Two late wickets puts game in even position

Hampshire's opening Frizzell County Championship match against Worcestershire is delicately poised going into the final day as two crucial late wickets slowed the home sides' charge towards posting a challenging target for the visitors to chase.

Worcestershire's lead currently stands at 236 with five second innings wickets in hand, so it will need Hampshire to bowl them out or for new skipper Ben Smith to set a target in the morning to make a game of it.

Hampshire added another 80 runs to their overnight 267-5 but at a vastly different rate to that shown the day before, especially from centurion Nic Pothas. The wicket-keeper/batsman increased his 110 tally from Saturday by just 29 in the two hours 15 minutes before lunch and furthered it by only seven more afterwards when he was left unbeaten.

His 279-ball 146 not out included 23 fours and two sixes.

The rest of the tail did not flatter, with only Dimi Mascarenhas (20) and Ed Giddins (10) reaching double figures as Kabir Ali and Nantie Hayward finished off the innings, ending with four wickets each as the home side bowlers bowled considerably better than they had the day before, offering none of the Hampshire batsmen space to swing their arms.

With a lead of just 49, Worcestershire lost opener Anurag Singh and then the key wicket of Graeme Hick for just 4, when he was trapped leg before by an excellent delivery from Giddins and Stephen Peters fell for a painstaking 24 with the score at 78.

But Ben Smith once again kept Hampshire out, adding 82 to his first innings century as he collected 97 for the fourth wicket with Vikram Solanki, who hit 45 - 40 of which came in boundaries.

Their dismissal within ten runs of each other just before the close has put the game in an even position and anything could happen when play resumes tomorrow.