Carberry up for the chase

Michael Carberry blasted his way to a match-winning century

Watch an exclusive video interview with Michael Carberry on ECBtv

Michael Carberry’s fondness for the chase helped England Lions to a stunning five-wicket win over Central Zone which puts them on the threshold of the Duleep Trophy final.

Hampshire opener Carberry struck 112 in Vadodara as the Lions reached their 296-run target shortly after lunch on the final day.

Fellow left-handers, captain Michael Yardy and Ed Joyce, weighed in with half-centuries as England’s shadow side overcame a 115-run deficit on first innings and a pitch which encouraged the seamers throughout.

Carberry, 27, drew on experience of successful pursuits of daunting targets with Shane Warne’s Hampshire to leave a simple equation for the final match against West Zone: avoid defeat to reach the five-day final in Mumbai.

It was an unbeaten 192, which steered Hampshire to a five-wicket victory over Warwickshire last July after collusion between the two captains for a positive result, that sparked Carberry’s rich form.

“I was in a privileged position because I have been in these kind of run chases before and come through a lot of them,” said Carberry, who hit four more centuries in the latter half of the English season.

Carberry credits Shane Warne for his never-say-die attitude

“A lot of them I would say have been because of the way Warney plays his cricket.

“We have been in situations where we have needed 330 to 350 in the final innings and come through it as a team.

“You get used to chasing those kind of targets and pull on those experiences. To do this sort of thing you need partnerships and we managed those.”

Carberry and Yardy shared 116 for the second wicket to leave their side requiring 150 further runs on the final day.

“The main thing we said to each other when we came together was that we had to weather the storm a little bit, the opposition had their tails up at that point and the ball was moving around,” Carberry said.

“With time at the crease we felt it would get easier because their bowlers would get tired.

“It was a dogfight from ball one; I certainly wouldn’t put it down as my most fluent innings; to get runs out here you have to fight and look ugly at times.

“I was delighted to get a hundred in that situation as well. They’re the sort of situations you dream of coming through as a first-class cricketer. Those innings help massively from a personal perspective but over the four days a lot of credit has to go to the team.

“The bowlers toiled away which allowed us to chase down a reasonably hard total rather than something ungettable.”

But the Lions will have to ensure no repeat of their first-innings effort of 155 when they face the fancied West Zone on the same Moti Bagh ground from next Monday.