In-form Hampshire wrapped up their second emphatic victory of the season before lunch on Sunday as Middlesex lost their last six wickets for 82 runs. Resuming the day on 208-4, the visitors lost overnight batsmen Robbie White and Martin Andersson within the first half-hour to Ian Holland, ending any faint hopes of trying to save the match.
Holland, who scored 210 runs in the game, trapped White lbw for 71 in the second over of the morning, then found the edge of Martin Andersson's bat on his way to figures of 3-19. Hampshire skipper James Vince took the new ball after 11 overs and pace spearheads Kyle Abbott and Mohammad Abbas struck immediately with Toby Roland-Jones, John Simpson and Nathan Sowter all departing in quick succession as five wickets fell for 37 runs in just under an hour. Spinner Liam Dawson then wrapped up the match by ending Ethan Bamber's stubborn resistance for 24.
The victory, which comes on the back of last week's win over Leicestershire, is the first time since 2004 that Hampshire have boasted a 100 per cent record after the first two rounds of the season. Vince, who was out for single figures in both innings following on from his double-century at Grace Road, said it was pleasing to see a number of players contributing to the win. Abbas was the pick of the bowlers, finishing with match figures of 9-39, with Holland and Sam Northeast scoring their first centuries of the season
Centuries from Sam Northeast and Ian Holland have put Hampshire in a strong position to wrap up victory on Sunday against Middlesex at the Ageas Bowl. Northeast and Holland added 257 for the third wicket before James Vince declared half-an-hour before lunch - setting Middlesex an unlikely target of 531 for victory. The signs looked ominous for a three-day finish when the visitors were reduced to 33/3 - having been dismissed for 76 in their first innings on Friday.
However, a stand of 122 from Nick Gubbins and Robbie White for the fourth wicket gave Middlesex their first partnership of note for the match to frustrate the home side.It was part-time seam bowling of Holland that finally made the breakthrough when he enticed Gubbins with a wide delivery during the extended final session and Liam Dawson took a sharp catch to dismiss the left-hander for 67.But White, 73, and Martin Andersson, 25, took their side safely to the close with the new ball due in 11 overs.
Northeast, who was on 99 overnight, reached three figures in the third over of the day with a sweetly-timed cut shot to the boundary, to follow up on the classy 63 he made in testing conditions on day one.Opener Holland then became the fifth batsman in Hampshire's top-six to reach three figures in the opening two matches of the season before Steve Finn ended the partnership when he bowled Northeast for 118. Vince also fell to Finn for a duck when he was adjudged to be lbw to a ball from the former England paceman that looked to be drifting down the leg-side.
The Hampshire skipper then called in the unbeaten Holland, after he had reached his highest first-class score of 146 and new batsman Dawson.
Middlesex made it unscathed to the lunch interval, but lost 3-7 immediately after the restart when Mohammad Abbas bowled Sam Robson for 19. Kyle Abbott then trapped Max Holden in front of the stumps for 10 before Abass took his eighth wicket of the match when Steven Eskinazi edged to Joe Weatherley at slip for a single.
A stunning spell of bowling from Mohammad Abbas has put Hampshire on track for victory over Middlesex at the Ageas Bowl. The Pakistan quick ripped through the Middlesex top order with a brilliant hat-trick, bowling full and fast to expose the poor footwork of the visiting batsmen.
Abbas struck with his fifth, sixth and seventh deliveries en route to figures of 6-11 from 11 overs to leave the 2016 champions staring down the barrel of a second successive LV= Insurance County Championship defeat following last week's dispiriting loss to Somerset. Seamer Brad Wheal chipped in with 3-4 as Middlesex were bowled out for 79 - their lowest score against Hampshire for 65 years - in response to Hampshire first innings total of 319.
But perhaps mindful of losing to Essex four years ago after enforcing the follow-on, skipper James Vince opted to bat again as the hosts closed the day 444 runs in front with Sam Northeast, 99, and Ian Holland, 90, unbeaten at the close following a 202-run stand. Hampshire earlier added 38 runs to their overnight total, led by Kyle Abbot's fighting 58, with Steve Finn wrapping up the tail before lunch to post figures of 4-95 in his first red-ball appearance in almost two years. But any hope Middlesex had of posting a challenging response were dashed after just six overs when they slumped to 14-5 - with Abbas taking all five wickets - and at one stage boasting figures of 5-3 from four overs.
Max Holden was the first of his victims, before Nick Gubbins departed first ball. Captain Steve Eskinazi then edged behind to Lewis McManus for a duck from the opening delivery of Abass' second over to present the 31-year with his maiden first-class hat-trick.
Robbie White and Martin Andersson were then trapped lbw without scoring by Abbas as a shellshocked Middlesex went to lunch at 23-5. Sam Robson, a centurion last week at Lord's, became Abbas' sixth wicket when he was caught behind for 18 shortly after the restart before Abbott rearranged Toby Roland-Jones' s stumps four balls later. Wheal then ran through the visitors' lower order with only Nathan Sowter showing any signs of resistance with an unbeaten 24.
A disciplined showing from the Middlesex attack has given the visitors the edge against Hampshire on day one of the LV= Insurance County Championship clash at the Ageas Bowl.
A gritty 35 not out by Kyle Abbott off 108 balls, helped the hosts recover from an ominous-looking 221-7 after James Vince had won the toss on a bitterly cold morning in Southampton and elected to bat. The hosts withstood some tight bowling to be 77-1 at lunch with Joe Weatherley the man to depart after being brilliantly stumped for 16 by John Simpson off Ethan Bamber.
But after bowling well without much reward in the opening session, the visitors dominated after the restart as Hampshire lost 5- 125 with the recalled Steve Finn dismissing last week's centurions at Leicester Tim Alsop for 19 and Liam Dawson for 22. Opener Ian Holland, who was dropped on nine, made Middlesex pay for that carelessness with gritty 63 before edging the impressive Toby Roland-Jones to Sam Robson at slip.
Vince, fresh from his brilliant 231 at Grace Road last week, looked in superb touch with two sumptuous boundaries.
However, his vigil at the crease was ended for a run-a-ball nine when he attempted to cut a short delivery from Martin Andersson but could only find the hands of his Middlesex counterpart Steve Eskinazi at slip as the hosts slipped to 143-4.Sam Northeast steadied the ship with a classy 50 but wickets continued to fall around him with Dawson sweeping Finn, in his first red-ball match since September 2019, to Andersson at mid-wicket.
Lewis McManus then shouldered arms to spinner Nathan Sowter and saw his stumps re-arranged for four as Hampshire crawled to 202-6 at tea.
Northeast, who had looked relatively untroubled at crease, brought up his 50 off 74 balls but departed shortly after the restart for 63 when he played at a wide delivery from Andersson and Simpson took a smart, low catch. Despite the floodlights being on and facing the new ball, the Hampshire tail showed some gumption, with Abbot and Mason Crane adding 31 for the eighth wicket. Crane fell for 18 to Bamber, but South African quick Abbott held firm alongside an obdurate Brad Wheal in the final hour until bad light stopped play with two overs of the day remaining.
