Injury hit Hampshire lose to Notts by 5 wickets

Ali & Pothas injured in final afternoon

Hampshire vs. Nottinghamshire
LV= County Championship Division 1
Start: Tuesday 4th May 2010, The Rose Bowl

Summary: Day Four
Nottinghamshire beat Hampshire by 5 wickets
Hampshire: 300 & 273
Nottinghamshire: 328 & 246

A disappointing day for Hampshire culminated in another loss when Nottinghamshire beat the home team by  five wickets after a chase which took them to within seven overs of the end of play. In addition the afternoon brought two injuries to Hampshire; one to Kabir Ali’s knee and the other to Nic Pothas’ left hand.
 

 
James Vince made 46 in Hampshire's second innings

James Vince began the day’s proceedings brightly, though. In just the 2nd over he took advantage of a new ball to strike a four past point, before following it up with a shot which could almost have been an action replay. In the same over he struck a third four past deep cover to get Hampshire off to a flyer.

Darren Pattinson was in lethal form for Notts however, taking the first wicket of the day when Pothas (30) was dismissed by an LBW, leaving Hampshire on 190-5. In the 7th over Vince was declared out LBW after a Paul Franks’ delivery cut back on him. He had made just four shy of the half century, with Hampshire now on 200-6.

Sean Ervine and Dominic Cork proved a hard working duo, carving out doubles seemingly from nowhere, with Cork striking a nice boundary over deep off side to help solidify the home side’s standing. He was dismissed LBW for 28 in the 17th over when Samit Patel’s swing caught him in front of the stumps, sending him back with Hampshire on 248-7.

A simply disastrous spell followed, with Kabir Ali being bowled for a duck by Charlie Shreck, who then sent Rangana Herath turning on his heels for a golden duck with a catch behind, the innings teetering on 249-9.

Ervine strived to bring Hampshire’s score towards a competitive total with a scoop to fine leg, but the bell seemed to be tolling for the hosts’ second innings. The name of the game now was preserving wickets and playing out time and Hampshire finished the morning session looking precarious on 268-9, leading Notts by a slim 240 runs with 1 wicket remaining.

 

Kabir Ali – realising the uphill struggle his side had in defending such a narrow lead – was aggressively seeking wickets from the off, but an impassioned claim for Neil Edwards’ dismissal was rejected.

But Ali clearly had a problem with his knee which led to David Griffiths taking over the bowling duties alongside Cork, and in the 5th over of Notts’ innings Edwards was, indeed, out when Michael Carberry caught him at point off Griffiths; the scoreboard looking marginally better at 12-1.

An early boundary from Mark Wagh signalled his intentions, but shortly afterwards a drop by Neil McKenzie with Shafayat on 2 meant Notts narrowly escaped a second loss in fairly quick succession. Another drop – this time by Chris Benham at third slip with Shafayat still on 2 – didn’t do Hampshire any favours with the scoreboard starting to once again look ominous at 35-1 thanks to a spree of fours from Wagh.

In the 19th over Wagh reached his half century from only 42 balls including 10 fours. The players went in for tea with Nottinghamshire threatening on 83-1, requiring 163 runs from the remaining 40 overs.
 

Griffiths had a hand in 4 wickets but to no avail

Shortly after tea Hampshire made a breakthrough with Benham running around to point to take a high catch off Herath which dismissed Shafayat for 12.

With Ali off the field injured the bulk of the bowling fell to Herath and Griffiths, but Wagh continued to make rapid progress while Hashim Amla was content to play a supporting role.  With the required rate never straying far from 4 an over, Cork, then Ervine, replaced Griffiths at the Northern End and Wagh progressed towards his century without further alarms.

He reached it with a four lofted high over Ervine’s head, and his landmark took Notts to 181 – just 65 runs short of victory with 20 overs remaining.

Things went from bad to worse when Pothas had to leave the field after falling awkwardly trying to catch a ball, but the determined Cork took the pads and the game carried on. Amla’s fifty brought Notts within 50 runs of victory and the rate reduced to under three an over.

Now Hampshire’s Assistant Coach Iain Brunnschweiler came onto the field to take the gloves. But it was the other substitute who took a stunning catch when the breakthrough came. Amla pulled a Griffiths’ delivery to Benny Howell running in from mid wicket to be dismissed for 54.

But David Griffiths hadn’t finished and in his next over Patel holed out to Benham at third man for a single run.  The fast bowler was in the action again as the light faded, but this time as the catcher when Ali Brown fell to Herath for 14.

All to no avail; Chris Read came to the crease to make the winning runs and Notts beat Hampshire by five wickets with seven overs to spare. Mark Wagh had made a majestic 131 and Griffiths the pick of the Hampshire bowlers with 3 for 59 and a catch to his name.

Jamie McLean & Jane Cable

Day Three

Summary: Day Three
Hampshire lead by 149 runs.
Hampshire: 300 & 177-4
Nottinghamshire: 328

 
As day three of Hampshire’s championship match against Nottinghamshire got under way, the hosts found themselves defending the slenderest of leads. With the guests at the crease, Paul Franks took control with two boundaries in the opening overs.

Kabir Ali’s first ball of the day gave cause for an LBW appeal, though this was ruled out, and a drop by Adams at short leg from a Rangana Herath ball saved Franks’ skin again with the batsman on 40.

Notts were soon past Hampshire’s first innings total, but Dominic Cork stepped up for his second over to see off Franks’ threat with an LBW to send him back to the pavilion on 48, the score standing at 312-8.

Mullaney continued his pursuit of the century with a four, lifted over Michael Carberry at point to finish the 9th over of the day. But in the 10th Cork bowled Pattinson for a single run, the ball having been parried by Neil McKenzie and eventually captured by Jimmy Adams at first slip, to set the score at 324-9. Charlie Shreck arrived on the scene, with Mullaney only 5 runs short of the ton.

Having picked up a single in the meantime, Mullaney then belted a boundary across the onside, swinging his bat through the air to celebrate his first championship century in only his 5th first class match, having hit 12 fours in the process. Shreck was caught for a duck following an edged swing to McKenzie at fourth slip to end the innings with Nottinghamshire on 328 all out after an hour of play.

Mullaney ended the innings on 100 not out, with Dominic Cork on figures of 34-4 having taken all three wickets to fall this morning.

Carberry and Adams got the second innings off to a good start, wiping out Notts’ slim lead within the first five overs. Pattinson and Shreck bowled patiently and in the ninth over Pattinson was rewarded when Carberry was caught behind for 14 and the score on 34-1. Hampshire ended the morning session on 51-1 with Adams on 23 and Benham on 8.

 

Jimmy Adams looked to protect his place at the crease with some defensive shots, choosing to pounce when the time was right to reach the 50 run mark. He struck a 4 to square leg to bring up Hampshire’s 100.

He swept a deft shot across Shreck at the boundary to bring himself within a solitary run of the milestone – and after returning to the crease following a single from McKenzie in the following over, he struck 2 runs to reach 51 to the applause of the delighted locals.

In the 43rd over, McKenzie edged off Shreck, and was caught by wicket keeper Chris Read. He finished on 12 runs from 55 balls, taking the score to 109-3. James Vince got off to a great start, striking a four from Shreck.

Adams then hit a four – his 7th of the afternoon – from a Patel delivery to give the locals some real hope of making this afternoon difficult for Notts. The score at the end of the afternoon session was 121-3, with Hants leading by 93 runs.

Jimmy Adams left the field with 60 runs to his name

In the 50th over though, Adams’ great form was brought to an abrupt halt with a Patel ball being caught by Bilal Shafayat at short leg, sending him back with a solid 60, with Hants on 121-4. Nic Pothas quickly got off the mark with a single glanced to the leg side.

Pothas hit a four across square leg during a sedate spell of play which proved one of few bright moments of the final session. Another fine leg side glance from James Vince gave the batsmen a further three, but before long the final ball was delivered to complete the day’s proceedings at 6:01pm.

Hampshire will resume tomorrow leading by 149 runs, the score standing at 177-4. Pothas (29 from 97 balls) and Vince (29 from 99 balls) will be at the crease for start of play tomorrow.

Jamie McLean

Day Two:

Summary: Day Two
Hampshire lead by 27 runs.
Hampshire: 300
Nottinghamshire 273 - 7

Hampshire again failed to take advantage of a strong position and instead of manufacturing a winning position finished the second day of their championship match against Nottinghamshire holding the most fragile of first innings leads.

Thanks to Kabir Ali’s devastating opening spell Hampshire had Notts reeling at 33-4, and then again at 122-6, but Ally Brown and then steven Mullaney hauled Notts back into the game.

Under a leaden sky which aided swing, Ali produced a stunning opening burst of three wickets in 18 deliveries for just two runs to leave Notts all at sea.

Ali produced a snorting, lifting delivery which Bilal Shafayat could only edge to Nic Pothas behind, and he followed that up with the removal of Neil Edwards who was judged to have caught an inside edge on to his pad to loop a catch up to James Vince at point.

The former Worcestershire seamer, with one England Test cap to his name, had Notts reeling at 17-3 when Mark Wagh played over the top of a straight delivery.

Notts were staring down the barrel and Hampshire’s modest first-innings 300 looked a long way off as Sean Irvine struck with his first delivery to remove the in-form Hashim Amla, albeit with a large amount of thanks to Pothas’s superbly athletic leg-side catch as the South African Test batsman looked to glance Irvine.
 

Pothas made the catch of the day to see off Amla.

Brown began to piece together Notts reply, initially with the aid of Samit Patel as the pair added 69 in good time in 17 overs either side of lunch, with Brown reaching his 50 off 70 balls including five boundaries.

But Patel fell soon after lunch, slicing an attempted drive to Cork at mid-off to give Rangana Herath his first Hampshire wicket on his championship debut for the county.

And when Cork uprooted Chris Read’s off stump to leave Notts tottering at 122-6, Hampshire looked wel l on course for a first-innings lead.

 

The partnership was approaching dangerous proportions for Hampshire when the pint-sized Herath struck to remove Brown, aided by a catch at mid-wicket by Cork who leaped like a salmon to hold a smart catch.

Brown’s 81 had been circumspect by his accustomed crash-bang manner, coming off 144 balls and including just seven fours, but his partnership of 111 in 31 overs with Mullaney had pulled Notts out of danger.

Mullaney picked up the threads left by Brown and with Paul Franks, inched Notts towards Hampshire’s first-innings total, and when the umpires took the players off for bad light at 5:42pm the pair had added 40 with no traumas, with Mullaney unbeaten on 72 made of 149 deliveries and including nine fours.

 

Day One:

Summary: Day One
Hampshire lead by 297 runs.
Hampshire: 300
Nottinghamshire 3 - 0

Hampshire’s stand-in skipper Nic Pothas won the toss for the fourth time in the LV= County Championship this season and had no hesitation in electing to bat first on a lovely morning at The Rose Bowl.

Michael Carberry quickly justified his captain’s decision with a couple of sweetly timed boundaries off Charlie Shreck. Carberry and Jimmy Adams ran well between the wickets and suffered no alarms in reaching 37-0 after 10 overs.

It was therefore somewhat of a surprise when Paul Franks got one to bounce on Adams to have him caught behind for 15, leaving the score 40 for 1.

New batsman Chris Benham raised Hampshire’s 50 in the 15th over with a well taking single and Carberry then thrashed Darren Pattinson through the covers for an emphatic four to move to 30.

Franks was keeping things tight and he located the edge of Benham’s bat, but it went safely between 3rd slip and gully. It was to be a brief stay of execution for Benham as, in the next over, he edged to Ally Brown at first slip off Shreck to depart for nine and leave the hosts 59 for 2.

Carberry continued unperturbed and eased Franks through the covers for another boundary. Neil McKenzie came and went in a hurry - lbw for two off Shreck - and Hampshire’s good start was in danger of being wasted.

James Vince came to the crease and imperiously slammed Steven Mullaney down the ground for four, the score now 82 for 3. Carberry’s off-side excellence brought up his 50 of 69 balls and Vince then produced the shot of the morning- a glorious on-drive for four off Shreck.

Vince unfurled another aesthetic straight drive and Hampshire lunched on 96 for 3 after 29 overs, Carberry 53* and Vince on 13.

                                               At tea Carberry was closing in on a deserved 100

The young right-hander started the afternoon session in positive fashion by hitting Franks down the ground for four; bring in the 100 in the process. In Franks’ next over, Vince dispatched him through extra-cover and was looking in fine fettle, having raced to 27 off just 25 deliveries.

Vince’s quality was again in evidence with back-to-back boundaries which brought up the 50 partnership; Hampshire now 127 for 3. He did have a life on 37 when Brown put down a sharp chance at slip, much to the irritation of bowler Pattinson.

His impish innings was soon curtailed on 39 when he tamely chipped to mid-wicket to give Pattinson his first wicket, leaving Hampshire 133 for 4.

Skipper Pothas soon followed Vince back to the pavilion after making just two, flaying at a wide ball from Pattinson and feathering a catch to Read as Nottinghamshire began to take control of the contest with Hampshire 139 for 5.

Sean Ervine raised the 150 with a punchy cover-drive but Notts were bowling well and keeping a lid on the scoring. A sedate period of play followed until Ervine eased Shreck for two fours in three balls, giving the hardy locals something to cheer.

Ervine repeated the feat in Shreck’s next over which propelled the hosts to 176 for 5, with Carberry on 72 and Ervine 25. Ervine failed to add to his total as Read turned to spin for the first time and Samit Patel had him caught at slip by Brown- 177 for 6 now.

Carberry remained composed despite the procession of partners at the other end; he scythed the returning Franks through point for four to move to 78.

The evergreen Dominic Cork joined Carberry out in the middle, looking to see the hosts through to tea with no further casualties. The 200 came up in the 60th over to give Hampshire their first bonus point. Carberry drove Patel to the cover fence in the last over before tea to guide the hosts to 216 for 6. 

 

To watch highlights of yesterday's play click above.

The evening session began with Carberry looking to score his second Championship century of the season, thus propelling Hampshire up towards 300.

Shreck and Patel opened up for the visitors and initially limited the Hampshire duo to just singles, but  Carberry wasn’t tied down for long. Patel erred on the short side and the left-hander duly punched him to the cover fence, moving to 97 and bringing up the 50 partnership; Hampshire 227 for 6.

Hampshire’s opener duly completed his second Championship ton of 2010 with a quick single, but Patel then trapped Cork lbw for 21 the very next ball; Hants now 229 for 7.

Carberry and Kabir Ali then eked out seven runs in six overs until Carberry broke the monotony with a huge six over mid-wicket off the previously frugal Patel. The hosts secured their second bonus point - 250 for 7.

After this brief interlude of excitement, the Hampshire duo reverted back to ones and twos, but looked fairly comfortable on 270 for 7, with Carberry on 127 and Ali 9.

Notts then snared the prized wicket of Carberry who pulled straight to deep backward square off Franks for a magnificent 132. He trudged off knowing he had followed in the footsteps of many of his teammates in rather giving his wicket away; the score now 276 for 8.

Rangana Herath - making his Championship debut for the county - showed little sign of nerves as he smeared two powerful off-side fours off Pattinson.

Steven Mullaney, who ripped the heart out of Hampshire’s batting in the CB40 on Sunday, accounted for Ali to seal the visitors’ third bonus point, the score 289 for 9.

David Griffiths and Herath managed to scramble another 11 runs to at least give the hosts a third batting bonus point, but almost immediately Pattinson breached Griffiths’ defence to end the innings on 300.

The teams came out for a solitary over which was bowled by Ali and it yielded three runs and an unsuccessful lbw shout against Neil Edwards.

Nottinghamshire ended the day the happier of the two teams after a disciplined bowling performance from their fringe bowlers. Hampshire need a big day in the field tomorrow if they are to give themselves a chance of their first win of the season.



Neil Evans
 

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