Nottinghamshire Go Close In Tight Battle
Nottinghamshire came close to victory in a tightly-fought battle with Hampshire at Trent Bridge during the latest round of County Championship fixtures, before the visitors ultimately managed to grab the win.
Batting first on the opening day, Nottinghamshire looked to be in huge trouble as Ben Slater and Will Young were both removed by Muhammad Abbas without a run being scored.
Joe Clarke followed soon after for just four, and when Haseeb Hameed, Tom Moores and Jack Haynes were all dismissed, the home side found themselves on 50-6 and very much on the back foot.
Lyndon James dug in to lead the recovery, putting on 69 with Calvin Harrison and also being supported by Olly Stone as Nottinghamshire reached 212-9 by the end of the day.
Moving past 100, James was on 106 not out when Dane Paterson was caught off the bowling of Kyle Abbott, with Nottinghamshire having recovered from the poor start to reach 235.
Hampshire were also five down relatively early in their reply after slipping to 77-5 and faced an additional challenge with Tom Prest unable to bat after picking up an injury.
Although Stone bowled well to take 4-62, Liam Dawson and Keith Barker helped to guide Hampshire into the lead with a stand of just under 160, with Dawson top scoring with 95 as the visitors reached 276.
Captain Hameed departed before the end of day two as Nottinghamshire started their second innings, and the following morning, it was Hampshire who looked to be gaining control as they restricted the hosts to 44-4.
Clarke and Haynes combined to add 96 for the sixth wicket but Nottinghamshire could only manage 209 to leave a modest victory target of 169.
Hampshire were now the hot favourites but Paterson and Dillon Pennington grabbed two wickets apiece to leave Hampshire on 84-5 at the end of the third day – still needing another 85 for victory and facing the prospect of once again being forced to bat without Prest.
However, when play resumed on the final day, Fletcha Middleton and James Fuller carried Hampshire to victory with an unbeaten partnership of 127, leaving Nottinghamshire to settle for three points from a five-wicket loss.
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