Day One
Hampshire trail by just two runs after they bowled Lancashire out for 149 as 15 wickets fell on the opening day of the Specsavers County Championship clash at the Utilita Bowl.
James Vince top scored with 40 as batsmen found it difficult on a sandy pitch as the home side reached 147 for five at the close of play.
Ryan McLaren, returning to the county he represented in 2016, chose to bat after winning the toss under blue skies with only the occasional nonthreatening cloud.
The pitch hinted spin would be heavily used across the four days with a sprinkling of sand at either end of the wicket – marked by a noticeably lighter hue.
For the first hour things went swimmingly for the visitors as Alex Davies looked at easy against the new ball, while Haseeb Hameed wanted to put into practice tips learned during a batting session with England batting coach Mark Ramprakash earlier this week.
Watchful Hameed took exactly half an hour to open his tally, with a guided edge through fourth slip, but fell tamely as he dabbed his bat at a wide Fidel Edwards delivery which was caught at second slip.
Davies had appeared fluent against pace but struggled with Dawson’s turn and bounce.
He got away with a thick edge to James Vince at second slip on 31, but five runs later prodded straight to Sean Ervine at first slip.
Dane Vilas feathered an edged behind off the medium pace bowler Ian Holland before Liam Livingstone lbw to Kyle Abbott on the other side of lunch.
West Indian Shivnarine Chanderpaul attempted to re-build the innings using his vast experience with Jos Buttler.
But the 42-year-old was pushed into a quick single to take on Mason Crane at backward point, with the fielder directly hitting to leave Lancashire 88 for five.
Buttler continued the procession when he was bowled by an Edwards beauty – which clipped the top of off-stump.
Leg-spinner Crane had been forced to watch England man Liam Dawson bowl 14 overs before he had a go at turning it out the sand.
And it only took until the second over to have McLaren chipping back to him, before Gareth Berg made sure every Hampshire bowler came away with a wicket when Stephen Parry edged to first slip.
Crane mopped up the tail with Jordan Clark and Matt Parkinson both nicking off in consecutive balls to leave the 20-year-old with figures of three for 27.
Hampshire began their reply with freedom as Jimmy Adams and Lewis McManus put on 21.
But left hander Adams slashed with minimal foot movement to be caught behind before the wicket-keeper followed with a tentative prod to Livingstone at first slip.
Vince and Ervine entered and appeared to be playing on another wicket as boundaries flowed and a day high 59-run stand was put on, with Vince in particular driving and flicking well with supple wrists
Ervine departed when he flicked behind and Vince skied a pull shot to mid-wicket for 40.
Parkinson found the edge of George Bailey’s bat in his first over before Livingstone caught low at first slip but Holland and Dawson took Hampshire to the close without another loss.
Day Two
Liam Dawson scored his highest total of the season, but Hampshire were frustrated by Lancashire on day two of the County Championship contest.
Dawson (75) struck his highest total against the visitors as Hampshire were dismissed for 224 in their first innings.
In reply, Davies (97) & Hameed (77*) played two contrasting innings, but were both effective as Lancashire ended the day on 314-5 at the Utilita Bowl.
Hampshire resumed the day on 147-5, but when they moved level with Lancashire’s first innings score, Ian Holland (14) was trapped LBW by Jarvis in the second over of the day.
Dawson was batting sensibly in tough conditions, with the all-rounder hitting a couple of quickfire boundaries to take his side into the lead.
Gareth Berg (4) looked to have steadied the ship with a steady 20-run partnership, but his gritty innings came to an end with Jarvis picking up his second scalp of the day.
The seamer then claimed his five-wicket haul in his very next over, with Kyle Abbott (6) gloving a pull shot to Alex Davies behind the stumps.
After a brief rain delay, Jarvis continued his impressive spell, claiming the scalp of Mason Crane (0) as Hampshire fell from 169-6 to 179-9.
Dawson then seized the initiative however, hitting 14 runs off the 53rd over and brought up his half-century as his stay at the crease moved beyond two hours.
He then flicked the ball through mid-wicket to bring up Hampshire’s first batting point of the game, and continued piling on the runs with Fidel Edwards (3*).
Dawson (75) was eventually dismissed when he was bowled by Parkinson, but a significant 45-run partnership with Edwards guided the hosts to 224, a 75-run lead.
Lancashire made a positive start to their second innings, with openers Davies and Hameed moving their partnership past fifty before progressing into the lead shortly after.
The opener batted aggressively and brought up his half-century off just 47 balls, and continued to score as the pair brought up the hundred partnership.
Dawson (2-62) then broke the stand as Davies (97) was athletically caught by stand-in wicket-keeper James Vince as he edged onto his pads and the ball looped up to Vince to leave Lancashire on 129-1.
The run-rate dramatically fell after the breakthrough, but Hameed and Liam Livingstone saw their side to 149-1 at tea.
Livingstone started brightly in the evening session, hitting a couple of quick boundaries as Lancashire’s lead progressed into three figures and the partnership passed 50 runs.
However, Abbott (1-47) broke the stand, trapping Livingstone (40) in front to pick up his first wicket of the day to reduce the visitors to 190-2.
Hameed and Vilas (20) took Lancashire past 200, but the latter was bowled by an excellent full delivery from Crane (1-96) shortly after, with the spinner claiming his first scalp.
Hameed reached his half-century in the 58th over of the innings, with his stubborn resistance coming off 154 balls.
Shivnarine Chanderpaul (35) was batting sensibly alongside his team-mate, but he proved to be Dawson’s second scalp, edging one onto his pads, with Jimmy Adams taking the catch at short-leg as Lancashire fell to 268-4.
England international Jos Buttler (20) motored his side past 300 with some aggressive batting, but with less than four overs left of the day, he was trapped in front by Fidel Edwards (1-41).
Hameed was still unbeaten at the close of play, and alongside Ryan McLaren (8*), the pair led their side and into a strong position on 314-5, a lead of 239 runs.
Day Three & Four
Poor weather ensured that no play was possible on the final two days of Hampshire's Specsavers County Championship clash against Lancashire at the Utilita Bowl so the players shook hands and the game ended in a draw.
Persistent rain meant that play was delayed from the outset, which forced the players to take an early lunch with the possibility of some play after the interval.
It brightened up shortly after, which meant that the umpires called a pitch inspection for 3:30pm, after the morning rain meant that an early tea was taken.
However, the rain continued to fall and play was abandoned following the 3:30pm pitch inspection.
