Nottinghamshire enjoyed the better of the exchanges on the second day of their LV= County Championship match against Hampshire at The Ageas Bowl.
After advancing their own first innings total to 371, they removed the top four batsmen in the hosts’ line-up to leave Hampshire on 167 for four, still 204 runs adrift.
Alex Hales only added 5 runs to his overnight score, before falling for 141. Former Trent Bridge player Andre Adams, and Gareth Berg, each took three wickets for the home side, with 19-year old Luke Wood shading the bowling honours for the visitors.
Wood ended the day with figures of two for 44 after making a valuable 26 not out with the bat, earlier in the day.
“It was nice to get a few runs,” he admitted. “And especially to get them late in the innings when we needed to build a bit of pressure and move the game along. Obviously Jake (Ball) stuck in there and helped me do that.
“When I bowled I felt there was a bit in the pitch early on and I thought we were unlucky not to get some more wickets. But it was nice to get a couple towards the back end of my spells, so all in all, I’m pretty happy with my performance today.”
There was a surprise visitor to the ground just before the start of the day’s play, with Liberal Democrats leader Nick Clegg popping in to briefly address his party followers.
Under clear blue skies, Hales and Will Gidman embarked on their task to lift Notts towards a fourth batting bonus point but soon ran into difficulties.
Hales had added 5 to his overnight score when Andre Adams, a former team-mate, nipped one back to demolish his off pole.
A satisfying opening half hour for the hosts was completed by Berg, who collected his third wicket by finding the edge of Vernon Philander’s bat, for just a single.
Gidman advanced to 34, his highest score so far for Notts, before snicking Adams through to the gloves of Adam Wheater.
After 110 overs the scoreboard read 337 for nine, meaning both sides collected 3 bonus points from the innings.
Last pair Jake Ball and Luke Wood then frustrated the Hampshire attack and belied their lowly positions in the batting order with a stand worth 47.
Ball was eventually bowled by Liam Dawson for 26, with Wood remaining unbeaten on the same score.
The session had swung dramatically back towards Notts and they built on that momentum in the 15 minutes before lunch with Philander shattering Dawson’s stumps for 4.
Jimmy Adams and Michael Carberry settled home nerves upon the restart with a second wicket partnership that always had a degree of permanency about it. Nottinghamshire had to make-do with being a bowler light after Jake Ball gingerly left the field midway through an over with a back injury.
A sharp slip catch by Samit Patel provided Notts with their much-needed breakthrough, after Carberry edged Wood to depart for 30, after which the celebrations of the young bowler were an expression of pure joy.
On 42 Jimmy Adams survived a vociferous lbw appeal against the bowling of Steven Mullaney and then almost picked out a diving Wood off Philander in the next over.
Consecutive boundaries took Adams to his second 50 of the summer, the milestone arriving from 124 balls with 9 fours. He’d progressed to 61 when he became Wood’s second victim of the day, thanks to a full length dive from Chris Read.
Patel’s first over of the day produced an unexpected wicket. James Vince turned to take on the arm of Philander but was well short of his crease when the return nestled into Read’s gloves for a surprising run out. Vince had been set, with 33 to his name.
Adam Wheater and Will Smith dug in to prevent any further calamities and they were able to head for the sanctuary of the dressing room when the umpires decided that the light had deteriorated too much, with 8 overs of the day still remaining.
Notts Outlaws NatWest T20 Blast Fixtures & Ticket Information
v Birmingham Bears - Friday 15 May 6.30pm BUY TICKETS
TICKET OFFER Adults £10 / U16s £5 / U21s £7 / Over 65s £7
v Yorkshire Vikings – Friday 22 May 6.30pm BUY TICKETS
v Durham Jets – Sunday 31 May 2.30pm BUY TICKETS
v Leicestershire Foxes – Friday 5 June 6.30pm BUY TICKETS
v Northamptonshire Steelbacks – Saturday 27 June 2.30pm BUY TICKETS
v Worcestershire Rapids – Friday 3 July 6.30pm BUY TICKETS
v Derbyshire Falcons – Friday 10 July 6.30pm BUY TICKETS
Season tickets include access to all seven group stage home fixtures and a no rain guarantee.
Click here to secure your seat: Adults £77 / Over 65s £56 / Families £189 / Under 21s £36 / Under 16s £26
Need more information? Call our ticket office on 0844 8118711.