Double act downs Hampshire

ECB Match Report by Russell Staves

Charlie Shreck and Darren Pattinson lived up to their billing as the most potent strike-force in the land as Nottinghamshire moved closer to winning the LV County Championship title.

The duo, who now have 104 wickets between them, each claimed three Hampshire victims to leave the visitors in tatters on 199 for nine when bad light stopped play.

Andre Adams and Mark Ealham took the other wickets to fall as championship leaders Nottinghamshire eked out three bonus points on a day which was as drab as the weather.

Hampshire, 18 points adrift of the hosts, needed to thrash Nottinghamshire to have any chance of snatching the title and, having been second-best in the East Midlands, will have to conjure up a miracle if they are to bring the trophy to the South Coast.

The man to provide that magic could be Imran Tahir who, having mysteriously appeared on the team sheet this morning, appears capable of anything.

The 29-year-old was the catalyst behind Hampshire's surge up the table, taking 36 wickets at just 17.25 in six games, but he was expected to miss the trip up the M1 after he was recalled by South African side Titans for pre-season training.

Whether Tahir even left these shores is uncertain but Hampshire will need him tomorrow.

After winning the toss and opting to bowl first in bowler-friendly conditions, Nottinghamshire skipper Chris Read must have feared the worst when Michael Carberry and Michael Brown saw off Shreck and Pattinson to move to 46 without loss.

Shreck and Pattinson have taken 98 wickets between them this season and the pair might have expected to add to that tally given the overcast conditions.

But it was veteran seamer Ealham who triggered the collapse which saw four wickets fall for just 28 runs when he persuaded Brown to nibble at an away swinger which Read did well to catch standing up.

Adams then took over, first shaping a delivery back into Michael Lumb who unwisely decided to pad up then pinning Chris Benham on the front foot to complete a brace of successful lbw appeals.

The returning Shreck took Nottinghamshire's fourth wicket, inducing Carberry to edge behind where Read took a stunning catch diving in front of first slip.

The hosts were rampant after the lunch interval with the irresistable Pattinson taking charge. The fast bowler dismissed Sean Ervine, the batsman dragged a pull shot onto his stumps, then trapped starlet Liam Dawson leg before to reduce Hampshire to 96 for six.

Pothas and Dimitri Mascarenhas knuckled down to avoid any further damage during a slow afternoon which rolled along as slowly as Nottingham's grey clouds.

While Pothas hit five boundaries, mostly elegant drives, Mascarenhas tempered his aggressive tendencies, plodding along to 16 from 70 deliveries at tea.

On a rare occasion he resorted to type, he danced down the wicket to Graeme Swann and smashed a powerful drive straight back at the bowler who failed to hold the booming stroke.

Pattinson, who finished with 3-43 off 19 overs, eventually ended Pothas' vigil when the keeper, having moved to 44 and put on a half-century stand with Mascarenhas, attempted a loose drive and was bowled off an inside edge leaving the visitors 151 for seven.

Chris Tremlett soon followed, caught and bowled off a leading edge by the returning Shreck, a dismissal which forced Mascarenhas to chance his arm.

Previously happy to just defend, the visiting captain freed himself of the self-imposed shackles to crack Shreck for two boundaries in the 83rd over. The bowler would get his revenge moments later when Mascarenhas looped a catch to Will Jefferson at cover.

Tahir swished merrily as the gloom descended on Trent Bridge, thrashing four boundaries in an entertaining unbeaten 23, but Hampshire need something more substantial when play resumes on Thursday.

Scorecard

Ervine made 18 bowled by Pattison (Photo - Getty Images)

Pothas hits out to score 44 off 123 balls for Hampshire (Photo - Getty Images)

 

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