HAMPSHIRE suffered a familiar top-order collapse after an encouraging start to the season with the ball at Headingley.

New Yorkshire captain Gary Ballance made a defiant century before Ben Coad ripped through Hampshire’s top order on the opening day of the Specsavers County Championship season.

Ballance’s 120 helped last year’s Division One runners-up recover to 273 all out, having been 152-7.

Hampshire slumped to 58-5 in reply, with the inspired Coad taking every wicket on only his second championship appearance.

Ballance was dropped by England after making four single-figure scores in two Tests against Bangladesh last October.

But he moved on in style. His 106-run stand with tail-ender Steven Patterson, steered the hosts out of trouble after Fidel Edwards, returning to the ground where he suffered a season-ending broken ankle 12 months ago, clean bowled three Yorkshire batsmen, while Kyle Abbott, Gareth Berg and Liam Dawson chipped in with two wickets apiece.

Abbott was playing his first game since quitting international cricket, along with fellow South African Rilee Rossouw, to take up a Kolpak deal with Hampshire.

Hampshire opted to forego the toss under leaden skies and with the floodlights on although the decision appeared questionable when Yorkshire openers Adam Lyth and Alex Lees made a flying start.

But Lees, who looked in decent touch in reaching 20, had his off-stump uprooted by Edwards, while Lyth shaped to leave one from Berg, only to edge behind and depart for 30.

Debutant Peter Handscomb and Ballance steadied proceedings with a 51-run partnership but Edwards’ return to the attack after lunch reaped rewards as Yorkshire lurched from 110-2 to 132-6 by mid-afternoon.

The middle-order collapse started when the expensive but effective Edwards castled Handscomb and, after Jack Leaning was adjudged lbw to a nip backer from Berg, the West Indian cleaned up Tim Bresnan in the same over he rapped Ballance on the helmet with a tremendous bouncer.

Yorkshire were in some strife when Abbott and second slip Rossouw linked up to see off Andy Hodd, but the unassuming Ballance, despite the blow from Edwards, was untroubled in reaching his a 102-ball half-century.

He grew in confidence, punishing anything short and wide and, with the sun poking through the clouds. he found an ally in Patterson.

Ballance moved to three figures from 163 balls with a drive through the covers.

Patterson finished unbeaten on 37 as Yorkshire subsided after the captain’s departure.

But their total appeared competitive as Coad struck in each of his first two overs, with Jimmy Adams trapped in front and James Vince clipping to midwicket.

Michael Carberry then poked to third slip off the 23-year-old, who, not satisfied with his haul, accounted for Sean Ervine and Rossouw to finish a frenetic day with sensational figures of 5-18.

Hampshire captain James Vince rued a poor last session on the opening day of the season at Headingley

He said: “We did a lot of good stuff for two thirds of the day, but that session at the end has put us right on the back foot. 

“We’re going to have to fight hard to find a way back into the game. 

“If we’re being hyper-critical we could have hit our areas a bit more consistently, but after the new ball the wicket did seem to flatten out a bit and Gary Ballance played really well. 

“We said after bowling that we’d have taken that at the start of the day, but we could have pushed and maybe bowled them out for 220 or 230.”

Yorkshire captain Ballance heaped praise on Coad, who took 5-18 after getting his call-up because of an injury crisis at Headingley.

“Coady was outstanding. He’s a young lad who has improved over the winter, and getting his first five-for will give him a lot of confidence. It was fully deserved.

“I don’t think we did too much wrong (batting wise). There were a lot of good deliveries in there on a wicket that at times was doing a bit.

“At least one of us has got a decent score to help get ourselves to where we are in the game.  

“I felt really good, and I have done for a while. I’m fortunate today was the day where I could kick on and get a hundred.

“The crowd got their money’s worth today. It was a very good day of cricket.

“If you got stuck in with the bat you could get runs. If you bowled good areas, you got rewards.”