ZAC Morris celebrated his Hampshire debut by taking three wickets -- including that of Worcestershire's Graeme Hick -- before hitting the winning boundary with two balls to spare.

Morris finished with figures of three for 31 as Hampshire ran out narrow winners by three wickets.

He also dismissed Phil Weston in his first spell and returned later to get rid of Nick Boulton as Worcestershire were restricted to 183 for seven.

A crowd of around 1,500 witnessed National League cricket for the first time at Hampshire's new Rose Bowl ground and they were rewarded with a tight finish.

David Leatherdale and Vikram Solanki put together Worcestershire's best partnership of the innings in adding 65 for the fourth wicket in 16 overs.

Solanki struck five boundaries in his 38, but Worcestershire were in danger of falling away after Leatherdale, who made 41, gave a return catch to spinner Shaun Udal.

Respectable

At 133 for seven Worcestershire were heading for a small total but this was made respectable by a brave unbroken stand of 50 between Steve Rhodes and Stuart Lampitt with the latter hitting the last two balls of the innings for fours.

Hampshire struggled to find any rhythm in their reply and were 95 for four with 17 overs remaining before Will Kendall and young batting prospect Lawrence Prittipaul came together in the best stand of the match, 73 in 13 overs for the fifth wicket.

Hampshire's middle order stuttered as Lampitt dismissed Kendall for 47 and Prittipaul skied Alamgir Sheriyar to deep cover for 42.

Hampshire needed seven off the last over and with three balls to go Morris straight drove Sheriyar for four to give them victory by three wickets.

Morris' partner in the eighth wicket stand, Udal, had run out Dimitri Mascarenhas in the previous over, just two balls after Prittipaul had also got out with the end in sight.

For Worcestershire Sheriyar, Lampitt and Australian newcomer Andy Bichel each took two wickets, but Hampshire kept their nerve to record their first win of the season.

n Worcestershire will be aiming to end a run of five successive defeats when they open their County Championship match against Derbyshire at New Road on Wednesday.