Four Andre Adams wickets mopped up the Hampshire tail as Nottinghamshire conceded a first innings deficit of 35 runs.

A third wicket stand between Chris Benham and Jimmy Adams steered Hampshire to 154-2 before Benham was bowled off his pads by Charlie Shreck.

Paul Franks removed Adams and James Vince in a two-wicket maiden and after McKenzie went lbw to Darren Pattinson (3-58), Hampshire quickly faded to 305 all out.

“When either side has a narrow first innings lead, the ‘third’ innings becomes the most important and if they bowl us out tomorrow, they’ll fancy their chances of winning on the final day, as will we if we’re still batting at 6 o’clock.

“They’ve built their score at a slower rate than is natural to us given the approach of the players that we’ve got in our side and we’ve got every chance of pushing for a win from this point.

Notts were made to pay for dropping Jimmy Adams in the slips on 50 as he went on to score 96 before he edged to Chris Read off Paul Franks.

“It’s disappointing when catches go down but it’s not something I’m worried about because we’ve got an excellent slip cordon and I rate Chris Read as the best in the world,” said Newell.

“We bowled well this morning without reward but we were able to make steady progress having made a breakthrough and I’m pleased with the way we got on top later in the day.”

After Hampshire secured a third batting point, Notts reaped maximum bowling points when Andre Adams watched Sri Lankan spinner Rangana Herath edge to Ali Brown to end the innings and day two of this finely balanced encounter.