Yorkshire CCC lose a County Championship cracker at hands of Liam Dawson and Hampshire

Too often, matches at the Ageas Bowl have tended to die a death on pitches that were probably never alive in the first place, but this had a bit more help for the bowlers and something for everyone across the four days.

The only thing that it lacked, from a Yorkshire point of view, was the right result, Hampshire winning by two wickets with 13.4 overs of the game remaining.

It was Yorkshire’s first defeat of the Championship season, after five draws and a win, and completed the first half of their 14-match programme, leaving the White Rose fourth in the table, 31 points behind leaders Surrey, who won a similar nipper against Somerset in Taunton.

Hampshire, now 28 points ahead of Yorkshire in second, kept their nerve after being left to chase 197 in a minimum of 59 overs. Liam Dawson led the way with 67 from 68 balls, having arrived at the crease at 78-3 in the 19th over, the sometime England all-rounder carrying Hampshire to within seven of their target before he was eighth out, top-edging a pull off Matthew Revis to long-leg where Dom Bess had enough time to worry about dropping the opportunity before pouching it safely.

When Kyle Abbott then drove Revis to the cover boundary and James Fuller uppercut Dominic Drakes for four, Hampshire had their fifth win in seven.

It was fitting that the ninth-wicket pair were there at the end, Fuller and Abbott’s stand of 74 in the Hampshire first innings having kept the hosts in the game on day three as they replied to Yorkshire’s first innings 428 with a total of 410.

Yorkshire, who had been 
222-2 on the first day, lost their way during that stand which subtly but very decisively changed the momentum. It meant the visitors had to bat with appropriate caution at the start of their second innings and then left them exposed when they slipped from 55-1 to 178 all-out, having started day four on 101-5. That Revis top scored with 28 not out from No 9, despite nine batsmen reaching double figures, was a telling statistic.

Ultimately, Hampshire’s bowling proved a little too good second time around and Yorkshire’s superiority at the start of the match, primarily given them by the batting of George Hill and Harry Brook, was systematically worn away like waves eroding rocks on the coastline.

Yorkshire felt that a lead in the region of 200 would give them something serviceable to bowl at, but that was by no means guaranteed when they lost three wickets inside the first nine overs of a sunny day four to slide to 124-8, 142 runs in front.

Harry Duke fell to the eighth ball of the morning without adding to his overnight 17, cleaned up by one from Abbott that nipped back and knocked over the off stump, and Bess was leg-before to Abbott, although perhaps unlucky as it seemed to strike him outside the line.

Jordan Thompson edged Brad Wheal low to James Vince at second slip – albeit standing at more of a fourth slip – but the score had climbed to 168-8 by lunch, Drakes pulling Wheal for six before falling to the first ball after the break, edging a loose drive at Ian Holland to a solitary slip.

Revis produced four handsome offside boundaries to ensure that Yorkshire indeed had something to bowl at, the innings ending when Steve Patterson was bowled by Wheal, who, along with Barker and Abbott, captured three wickets.

Hampshire’s chase began a little uncertainly, like teenagers on a first date, as they slipped to 23-2 inside nine overs. Thompson had Felix Organ caught by Brook diving to his left at third slip and then pinned Holland with a fuller delivery.

Nick Gubbins and Vince combined in a third-wicket stand of 55, compiled at a healthy lick of 59 balls, to give Hampshire belief before Gubbins, in trying to paddle Patterson behind square on the leg-side, was adjudged leg-before, another questionable verdict.

When Vince was caught behind off Bess in the next over, the home team were 80-4 and their best batsman could do nothing but drag himself back to the pavilion for an afternoon of nervous watching and no doubt nail-chewing.

Vince’s nerves would hardly have been assuaged when Ben Brown tried to cut Bess out of the footholes and was well caught by Lyth one-handed to his right at slip, nor when Patterson nipped one back through the gate to bowl Aneurin Donald, which left Hampshire 103-6 and the match in the balance.

Over to Dawson… The right-hander played some sumptuous cover-drives especially, finding the boundary nine times in total en route to a half-century reached from 54 balls and containing a six over long-on off Bess.

He still needed support and got it him from Barker, who helped him add 67 for the seventh-wicket before edging an attempted pull off Drakes to the keeper with the game almost won.