County Championship: Simon Harmer achieves career-best as Essex beat Hampshire

Simon Harmer's previous best figures in a first-class match were 14-128

Simon Harmer returned his best first-class match figures as Essex stalled Hampshire's County Championship charge in a three-day thriller.

Off-spinner Harmer, who bowled unchanged on day three, claimed 7-161 to go with his 8-46 in the first innings to return 15-207.

The visitors, who were only three points behind leaders Surrey ahead of the match, were only 13 runs shy of victory after Felix Organ's 65, and useful contributions from Ian Holland, Ben Brown, Aneurin Donald, Keith Barker and Kyle Abbott got them close to their 299-run target.

Hampshire have not won at Chelmsford since 2012 and had lost their last three matches on the ground by an innings, so this was progress, despite the result.

Harmer had only taken 12 Championship wickets this term before this match, with only two coming on placid home wickets - but a spicier pitch benefitted him and handed Essex their first home win of the season.

Since Harmer arrived in 2017, Essex have only lost three home matches, with the only successful fourth-innings chase coming when Surrey needed just two.

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The South African was frustrated initially as Organ and Holland played with a decent tempo to keep eating into the target.

Organ had already smashed Harmer over mid-wicket for three sixes the previous evening, and sailed another two over the dressing room as he found a way to deal with the turn and bounce.

He reached his second half-century of the season with a carved boundary behind point off 67 balls, but Harmer won the battle in the end, as Organ was bowled going back to the spinner, ending an opening stand worth 97 - the highest of the match.

Hampshire were somewhat miffed by a steady stream of replacement balls and it was following a delay discussing the situation that wickets began to fall.

James Fuller had been promoted from number nine to number three and scored a slightly better than run-a-ball 18, including another six over mid-wicket, before guiding Aaron Beard to second slip to break a run of 19 straight wickets falling to spin.

Holland had bedded in by facing 95 balls and looked relatively comfortable before turning Harmer to short leg, and Nick Gubbins and James Vince made the fatal decision to go back to the spinner to fall lbw and bowled respectively.

In between the Harmer scalps, Beard picked up his second on his first red-ball appearance for Essex since 2020 as Liam Dawson was adjudged to have edged behind.

Hampshire had lost six wickets for 65 runs but, thanks to Donald's slogging, a 46-run partnership with Ben Brown gave the visitors a sliver of hope again.

However, Harmer bowled Donald while going back to cut, in almost identical fashion to Organ earlier, and Brown leg before from around the wicket.

Abbott and Barker gave a nervy feeling to proceedings as they added 41 before Abbott was lbw, giving Beard his third success.

Barker and last man Brad Wheal put on 32 as an unlikely victory edged closer but the all-rounder picked out long-on to fall for 42 and give Harmer his best match haul.

Report supplied by the ECB Reporters' Network.

Simon Harmer told BBC Essex:

"I can't say the pitch was too one-sided as if you look at a lot of the wickets they were down to batter error. I thought it was an even contest but obviously with some spin on offer.

"I'd be lying if I said there weren't a few nerves when they were getting closer but it's a big win as Hampshire are going well.

"If they had got to that total we would have doffed out caps and got on with it. But I was confident they would make mistakes and all's well that ends well.

"Shane Snater's effort in the first innings kept us in the game and to get over 200 was massive. It was a wicket where you had to knuckle down and that's what I and Adam Rossington did in the second innings as well."

Hampshire captain James Vince told BBC Radio Solent:

"Second innings was the highest score of the game by 40 or 50 runs, due to the conditions, you had to play village cricket really and attack the short side.

"The pitch, from day one, was spinning a hell of a lot and today I thought we did exceptionally well to get through the new ball being 97-0.

"As the ball got older, it spun less, but then they changed the ball a couple of times and they got six wickets in next to no time and the ball started seaming around from the other end as well.

"It leaves a bitter taste, especially getting so close, but in the end, it was a magnificent effort to get as close as we did."