Felix Organ hundred averts drama but Hampshire remain in trouble

Hampshire's Felix Organ scored his fourth Rothesay County Championship century to dash any final-day excitement for title-chasing Nottinghamshire at Utilita Bowl.

Organ patiently collected his highest first-class score of 122 not out to make sure Hampshire avoided the follow-on to turn the day into a wait for the inevitable 4.50pm draw.

The 14 points Nottinghamshire take from the match puts them level with Surrey at the top of Division One - with four rounds still to play.

Hampshire's 12 points leaves them sixth but just 13 points above the bottom two, having only won twice in the Championship this season.

Organ is Hampshire's version of James Milner. He fills in with whatever role his side needs.

He began his career as an opening batter but more often finds himself in the side when a spinning pitch is expected, where he slots in lower down the order to lengthen the batting options.

He is a fairly reliable insurance in both his skillsets, and it was his batting that took the fore on this occasion.

He'd begun the week by scoring 101 out of 171 for his Southern Premier Cricket League side St Cross Symondians, where he also took a five-for to secure a victory.

He ended it by making sure his county didn't lose, and slip deep into the relegation battle.

Organ had already scored 70 on the third evening, largely in a 126-run partnership with Indian sensation Tilak Varma, but returned this morning with 61-runs still required to avoid the follow-on.

He needed others to stick with him.

Nightwatcher Eddie Jack fell leg before to Josh Tongue - who produce a ferocious early morning spell - but James Fuller hung around for over and hour to score 16 in 40 balls to get Hampshire within a sniff of their target before he was bowled.

Kyle Abbott simply went dot, four, six, six to alleviate any fears of defeat and beat the follow-on requirements. It left just over four hours to reach the earliest possible finish time.

Each of Organ's three previous centuries have bettered his previous best score. His maiden effort was exactly 100 back in 2019, before scoring 107 at home to Gloucestershire and then 118 in the reverse fixture in 2022.

The trend continued after he went to three-figures in 266 with a six, as he was left unbeaten on 122 after Abbott was castled by Farhan Ahmed and Sonny Baker - who took 35 balls to get off the mark - was lbw.

Nottinghamshire boasted a first-innings lead of 124 but there was little chance of setting up anything. Ben Slater calved to point before the last half an hour turned into a classic bore-draw farce.

Wicketkeeper Ben Brown gave his pads and gloves to Varma to bowl some left-arm in an attempt to add to his one first-class wicket, while Fletcha Middleton showed off his medium-pacers for the first time in professional cricket.

Haseeb Hameed and Freddie McCann reached the easiest half-centuries of their career in a 99-run stand before 4.50pm and handshakes rolled around.