Day Four
Nottinghamshire consolidated their position at the top of the Specsavers County Championship First Division table with their third victory of the season.
They overcame stubborn final day resistance to defeat Hampshire by a margin of 203 runs at Trent Bridge.
Set an unlikely 469, the visitors survived until midway through the final session before being bowled out for 265, leaving Notts to celebrate a 22-point success.
Hashim Amla, made 112, before being last out, one of three victims for Jake Ball, who took three for 64. Stuart Broad and Harry Gurney each returned figures of three for 57.
Resuming on 111 for three, Hampshire lost a wicket in the first over of the day, with nightwatchman Chris Wood losing his off stump to Jake Ball for his overnight 13.
Amla gained an early reprieve, also on 13, when he was put down at second slip off Ball – the South African international offered little else from then on, batting for a total of five hours.
His former international team-mate, Rilee Rossouw, stubbornly resisted for over an hour in making seven, before being drawn into pushing at Broad and edging to Riki Wessels at first slip.
Both physios were busy in the morning session, as Notts’ wicketkeeper Tom Moores had lengthy treatment for thumb injury but was able to continue. Liam Dawson wasn’t so lucky, having to retire hurt on six, having sustained a blow to the hand from Gurney.
Amla’s half-century came up in the final over of the morning session, a landmark reached from 104 balls, with seven fours.
Lewis McManus, also nursing sore fingers after being struck earlier in the match, applied grit and concentration for 66 minutes in making just two from 58 deliveries. It took the second new ball – and the extra bounce of Broad – to see him off, as a nick flew behind off the shoulder of the bat.
Kyle Abbott also lasted for over an hour in making 10 before being caught in the slips by Wessels off Ball’s bowling.
Dawson bravely returned to the middle but only added two more runs to his earlier six before being pinned in front by Gurney, who also dismissed Brad Wheal.
Amla’s 100, the 51st of his first class career, came from 179 deliveries and was achieved with an exquisite straight drive off Ball, his 13th boundary.
Having faced a total of 203 deliveries, with 15 fours, the former ICC Number One Test batsman eventually departed, pulling at Ball and offering an easy catch to Ross Taylor in the covers.
Nottinghamshire’s victory moves them 19 points clear at the top of the table, ahead of their home fixture next weekend against Lancashire.
Hampshire’s second defeat of the campaign delivered only four bonus points and they will be looking for a return to better times when they make the trip to Taunton to face Somerset in their next match.
Day Three
Hampshire face a challenge on the final day of their Specsavers County Championship match against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge.
The visitors have been set to score 469 for victory or, survive a minimum of 140 overs for the draw. Hampshire reached the close of the third day on 111 for three, with Joe Weatherley having made 56.
Earlier, Notts advanced their second innings score to 389 for nine, before declaring in mid-afternoon. Steven Mullaney, who had been unbeaten on 82 at the start of play, was eventually dismissed for 130, making his runs from 189 balls, with 12 fours and four sixes.
The Nottinghamshire captain shared in an opening stand of 155 with Jake Libby, who made 54 before falling to a superb diving catch at second slip by Jimmy Adams.
Mullaney’s 13th first class hundred – and his third against the same opposition – came from 169 deliveries and included two maximums. He plundered two more from the bowling of Liam Dawson, before becoming only the second first class scalp taken by the part-time spin of Joe Weatherley.
Ross Taylor and Samit Patel had shared in a stand of 95 in the first innings and went one run better before being parted, when Patel fell to a catch in the deep for 36.
Lewis McManus, the visitor’s wicketkeeper had to leave the field, in some discomfort, after sustaining a finger injury, with James Vince taking the gloves.
Tom Moores helped himself to three more sixes in a quickfire 34 before a sliced steepler was taken by the stand-in gloveman, off Fidel Edwards.
Stuart Broad and Riki Wessels were both dismissed cheaply by Chris Wood, before Edwards, who claimed three for 60, took his seventh wicket of the match in bowling Luke Fletcher, at which point Mullaney declared.
Under a hot sun – and in ideal batting conditions – the Hampshire openers were untroubled in adding 82 but were separated due to a moment of extreme rashness.
Weatherley, having reached his first County Championship 50, couldn’t resist the wiles of Patel’s left-arm spin and dollied up a catch to mid-on after more than two hours at the crease.
His departure altered the complexion of the contest dramatically as the visitors lost two more wickets in quick succession.
Harry Gurney, who bowled 13 consecutive overs from the Pavilion End, was eventually rewarded – but not before a moment of disappointment.
Jimmy Adams, who made 17, nicked the left-arm pace bowler to second slip but was reprieved when Mullaney grassed the low chance. Next ball, in an exact repeat scenario, the same fielder held on, amidst great jubilation.
One last push from England quick Broad, late in the day, brought the downfall of Vince, pinned lbw when not playing a shot.
Hashim Amla was protected by nightwatchman Chris Wood for the closing couple of overs but the South African international’s performance may well be key to the eventual outcome.
Day Two
An unbeaten century opening stand put the seal on an outstanding day for Nottinghamshire, as the Division One leaders seized the advantage in their Specsavers County Championship match against Hampshire at Trent Bridge.
Steven Mullaney and Jake Libby batted throughout the final session of the day to reach the close on 139 without loss, an overall advantage of 215.
Mullaney, the Nottinghamshire captain, is unbeaten on 82, having faced 119 balls and hit 10 fours and two sixes. Libby reached his 50 in the final of the day, getting to the landmark from 97 deliveries, with six fours.
Having been reduced to nine for four against Lancashire and six for three against Yorkshire, the home county chose a timely moment to find some early season momentum in their batting.
Building on a first innings advantage of 79, the Notts second innings had barely begun before 24 runs were on the board, courtesy of four boundaries from Mullaney and another two from his partner. Mullaney went on the offensive and twice lifted Liam Dawson over the extra cover ropes.
The partnership topped off a decent day with the ball, as Hampshire were dismissed for 223 before tea.
Resuming from their overnight position of 70 for three, the visitors lost three wickets in the morning session, Riley Rossow for 26, Dawson for 10 and, most crucially, Hashim Amla for 69.
The South African Test batsman had appeared untroubled, until chancing his arm against Samit Patel and holing out to mid-off, after 169 minutes at the crease. Amla had faced 122 deliveries and scored 11 fours but his departure visibly lifted home spirits.
Patel followed that wicket with two more after lunch, getting Kyle Abbott caught at midwicket, before bowling Chris Wood.
Jake Ball picked up his 22nd championship wicket of the season by dismissing Brad Wheal but Lewis McManus frustrated the home side until being last out.
The Hampshire gloveman made 66 from 138 deliveries, until falling to Luke Fletcher. Patel finished with figures of three for 25 and Stuart Broad, who gave McManus a sustained barrage of short-pitched deliveries during the latter part of the innings, took three for 45.
An entertaining day – that ended with Notts on the front foot – contained that rarest of achievements, a prompt finish and 97 overs bowled – one more than the normal allocation.
Day One
Half centuries from Samit Patel and Riki Wessels enabled Nottinghamshire to reach 302 after opting to bat first on the opening day of their Specsavers County Championship match against Hampshire at Trent Bridge.
Patel made 73, scoring his runs from 92 balls, with 12 fours. He shared in a partnership of 95 with Ross Taylor, who hit 47, before Wessels anchored the second half of the innings with 54 from 89 balls.
Fidel Edwards was the pick of the Hampshire bowlers, taking four for 84.
In the final session of the day Stuart Broad picked up two wickets and Luke Fletcher grabbed another as Hampshire closed on 70 for three, still 232 runs behind.
It was the fourth wicket partnership between Patel and Taylor that altered the complexion of the morning session, after the hosts had been reduced to 27 for three.
Taylor, on his home debut for Notts, followed up his fifties against Yorkshire and Worcestershire with a stylish innings that contained eight boundaries and appeared in little difficulty before a miscommunication with his batting partner resulted in an unnecessary run out.
Patel became Edwards’ third victim, as the first ball of a come-back spell was pulled into the hands of deep square leg.
Useful contributions followed from Tom Moores for Notts, who continued his steady start to the campaign with 29, and Broad who added 33 in an enterprising stand of 54 with Wessels, who reached his own fifty from 86 balls with seven fours and a six.
Fletcher gloved behind and was followed back by Wessels, who pulled Brad Wheal to Liam Dawson in the deep.
Nottinghamshire’s last pair scrambled a final batting point before Dawson bowled Jake Ball for 11, leaving Harry Gurney undefeated on 16.
Hampshire lost Jimmy Adams for nought in the second over, to Broad, who also removed Joe Weatherley, thanks to a juggling catch at third slip from Taylor.
James Vince made just five, before being pinned lbw by Fletcher but Hashim Amla and Riley Rossouw remained together in an unbroken partnership of 47 in the final hour of the day.
Words: Press Association
