County Championship: Hampshire beat Nottinghamshire for fifth win of season

Hampshire are second in Division One after their latest victory

James Fuller took four wickets as Hampshire completed their fifth win of the County Championship campaign by 116 runs against Nottinghamshire.

Tom Moores flayed tired bowlers in the evening with 81, his first fifty of the season, to threaten just the chance of a remarkable upset but became the first of five final wickets to fall in 90 minutes.

Challenged to make 411 in a theoretical maximum of 202 overs by Hampshire's late declaration on Thursday, Nottinghamshire started the third day at Trent Bridge with the neat equation before them of exactly 400 runs required and all 10 men standing.

But when Mohammad Abbas struck with his third ball of the day, Kyle Abbott with his second and, after rain stole 13 overs, Fuller with his fifth and 11th balls of the match, Hampshire's formidable pace pack sensed victory at 76-4.

A stand of 99 slightly shifted the balance until Joe Clarke, twice missed, finally fell for 67 to Fuller (4-59) and Moores, after adding 64 with Lyndon James, had his off stump clipped still 30 overs from the scheduled close.

The home side's demise began in the morning's second over when Ben Slater, in what has been a season of struggle, was unable to add to his overnight eight before a beauty from Abbas straightened to hit off stump.

When Abbott arrived as first change and found immediate lift to take the shoulder of Will Young's bat and see the Kiwi lob to the keeper for the same score, Nottinghamshire were 40-2.

Rain arrived three balls later and, soon after the afternoon resumption, Clarke was reprieved on one at second slip off Abbott before Fuller, the fifth seamer employed, ended Haseeb Hameed's fluent 30 by having the acting captain held high at third slip from a defensive edge. He then disposed of South African Matt Montgomery for a ninth-ball duck.

Born in Cape Town but raised in New Zealand, Fuller is one of four bowlers in Hampshire's pace quintet who learned their cricket abroad but it was the lone home-grown seamer, Keith Barker, who should have ended a fifth-wicket revival then worth 50.

A top-edged cut from Clarke flashed between keeper and slip, the latter only belatedly reacting, as a fortuitous boundary brought up Clarke's fifty. Next over, another shower forced an early tea but no loss of time.

It meant the last session stretched ahead for potentially 53.2 overs and 10 of them had gone by the time Fuller, in a second spell, cut one back to remove Clarke's middle stump for 67. Moores then accelerated until spin made its first Hampshire appearance of the match - and Liam Dawson saw him dropped at the wicket from his 12th ball.

It was finally yet another seamer, the Australian-raised Ian Holland, who clipped his off stump, Moores's 81 coming from 109 balls.

Abbas returned to bowl James, ending 20 overs at the crease for 21, and when Brett Hutton edged behind for nine Fuller had secured his fourth success.

Refusing runs to farm the strike, Calvin Harrison held out until the new ball was taken in bright sunshine at 18:25 BST, with 13 overs left.

But Toby Pettman, left two balls to face from the first of them, fended to short leg off the second and Harrison was leg-before to Abbas for 39.

Report supplied by ECB Reporters' Network.