Essex v Hampshire Day four Close of Play report.
Apr 12 2010
Essex completed a sensational victory to beat Hampshire by 62 runs taking the final five wickets in 38 deliveries with the final victim with only more ball of the match remaining as the visitors lost all ten second innings wickets in the final session.
Hampshire had been set 248 runs to win and at 170-4, the match was nicely poised but the home side stormed back with Ryan ten Doeschate taking five of the remaining wickets to finish the match with figures of 5-13 from his 5.5 overs.
David Masters chipped in with the other crucial wicket but the new ball bowler joined ten Doeschate in the match-winning celebrations by taking a catch at leg slip to conclude the match before being immersed under a sea of congratulations from his colleagues.
At the start of the final session of play, Hampshire required a further 214 runs from a minimum of 35 overs and the openers had advanced the total to 71 before being parted when Jimmy Adams (45) became the first of five catches for James Foster to give Chris Wright the breakthrough.
Liam Dawson fell to a catch by Chris Wright off Graham Napier for 7 and Neil McKenzie also went cheaply (8) when Masters had the South African picked up by John Maunders in the gully.
Michael Carberry, though, was looking an increasing threat but the return of Maurice Chambers accounted for the opener who had scored 47 out of 124 when he chopped the ball onto his stumps.
When the last hour commenced, Hampshire were 126-4 requiring a further 122 runs and an absorbing finale looked on the cards although the manner of the eventual outcome could not have been anticipated.
Chris Benham and Nic Pothas reduced the target by 46 runs at a little better than the required run rate but then Benham had a wild swing at ten Doeschate outside off stump and was pouched by Foster.
Four overs later, Pothas was on his way back to the pavilion as three wickets fell with the score on 180. The Hampshire skipper chased a ball down the leg side from ten Doeschate and was caught by the wicket-keeper and to complete a total transformation of the game, ten Doeschate had Kabir Ali caught first ball by Foster.
It was Essex who were now sensing victory and in the next over, with nine fielders including the keeper crowding around the bat, Masters had Sean Ervine superbly caught by Foster down the leg side.
Danny Briggs survived seven balls until ten Doeschate delivered a full-length ball that rapped the batsman in front of his stumps and when last man David Griffiths walked out to bat, there were 16 deliveries of the match remaining.
The visitors played out two maiden overs but with the fifth ball of the last over, Griffiths pushed the ball to leg slip to set off scenes of great delight at the Ford County Ground as Essex sealed the win to celebrate their first match back in Division One.
Scoreboard: Essex 345 & 256, Hampshire 354 & 185.
Essex (21 points) beat Hampshire (6 points) by 62 runs.
