County Championship: Hampshire's Mohammad Abbas takes six wickets against Nottinghamshire

Mohammad Abbas claimed his third six-wicket haul for Hampshire

Hampshire's Mohammad Abbas provided his relentless best to bowl Nottinghamshire out for 185 on their return to the County Championship Division One.

Pakistan fast bowler Abbas claimed 6-49 as he ripped out the Notts top order before coming back to deal with the tail.

Only Joe Clarke (47) and Tom Moores (49) stood up to Hampshire's imperious attack, with James Fuller also picking up a pair of wickets.

Championship debutant Fletcha Middleton then kept the response in order with an impressive 56 not out as Hampshire ended the day on 119-3 - 66 runs shy of Notts' first innings score.

Abbas has been a menace for Championship batters since arriving at Hampshire in 2021 - with wicket tallies of 41 and 50 coming at an average well under 20.

But that has not persuaded Pakistan to bring him back into their Test side for the first time since August 2021, with his exile coming after a run of indifferent form.

Even with the likes of Hasan Ali, Shaheen Shah Afridi and Haris Rauf unavailable during this winter's Test series against England, he still could not find a way back into the squad. Pakistan's loss has been Hampshire's gain.

All his attributes - nibbling the ball around with metronomic precision - are suited to the Ageas Bowl, especially in early April.

It was therefore with a little surprise that Notts captain Steven Mullaney chose to bat first, although less so when Haseeb Hameed and Ben Duckett eased to 42 without loss before Abbas found his groove.

Abbas ground through to his sixth over before Duckett pushed to first slip and Hameed - who had been dropped second ball of the match - prodded behind in the next over.

Ben Slater and Mullaney were both victim to Abbas, either side of Lyndon James edging a Kyle Abbott delivery to leave Notts 93-5.

Abbas' rest allowed Moores and Clarke to rebuild watchfully, although the latter played with typical style through the off side.

It took 34 overs before James Vince veered away from his strike trio of Abbas, Abbott and Keith Barker when he brought Fuller into the attack.

Fuller had Clarke caught behind in his fourth over before Liam Patterson-White was dropped first ball but caught soon after for a quickfire double for the former Gloucestershire bowler.

Abbas returned to complete his five-for as Olly Stone was caught at the wicket and Luke Fletcher chipped to mid-wicket - it was the bowler's third six-wicket haul for Hampshire.

Moores closed in on a deserved half-century but in trying to come back for a second, last man Dane Peterson was caught short of his ground by a pin-point throw from Vince on the boundary.

In reply, Stone marked his Notts debut with a wicket with his ninth delivery, as Felix Organ was caught at second slip.

Nick Gubbins followed in a similar fashion off Fletcher before Vince was bowled by a James snorter as the hosts slumped to 57-3.

Middleton - son of former Hampshire player and current batting coach Tony - was making his County Championship debut, having impressed in a first-class match and One Day Cup campaign last season.

He had been battling at the other end but unleashed his innings with a trio of boundaries in a Stone over to get over any potential nerves.

On a pitch prepared by brother Finn, a member of the ground staff, he looked in little bother as he was joined in an unbroken 62-run stand with Liam Dawson.

Middleton reached his 50 in 88 balls just before bad light pulled the players off seven overs early - having previously been unblemished by conditions.

Report supplied by ECB Reporters' Network.