10-wicket Dawson spins Hants to big win over Lancs
- Published
Vitality County Championship Division One, Emirates Old Trafford (day three)
Hampshire 389: Middleton 109, Dawson 104*; Wells 4-94
Lancashire 200: Jennings 56; Dawson 5-47 & 152: Wells 51; Dawson 5-52
Hampshire (22 pts) beat Lancashire (3 pts) by an innings and 37 runs
Liam Dawson claimed five wickets in each innings and 10 for the match as Hampshire thrashed relegation-threatened Lancashire by an innings and 37 runs inside three days.
Dawson took the one he needed to end the Lancashire first innings with 5-47 as they fell from an overnight 193-8 to 200 all out in nine balls.
The Red Rose then slipped to 9-2 following on before Dawson had even come on.
The left-armer wheeled away for 29.3 overs picking up 5-52, including top scorer Luke Wells (51) to finish with match figures of 10-99, to go with his 104 not out with the bat, as the hosts were dismissed for 152.
It is Hampshire's first win at Old Trafford for 32 years as Lancashire slipped to consecutive innings losses in the Championship for the first time since 1907.
It was a highly-forgettable day for Lancashire as they lost 12 wickets for only 160 runs, starting when George Bell (35) edged behind off the second ball of the morning to John Turner.
Dawson had last man Tom Aspinwall lbw for nought from his third delivery and any doubts about putting the hosts in for a second knock were dispelled by the 189-run advantage.
Veterans Kyle Abbott and Mohammad Abbas bowled a superb opening spell offering no freebies to the Lancashire openers and it finally had its reward with the prize wicket of captain Keaton Jennings, trapped lbw for one by Abbas.
Number three Josh Bohannon was then leg-before to Turner's second ball as the scoreboard went nowhere.
Rocky Flintoff took 23 balls to avoid a pair, but the 16-year-old was eventually undone by Abbas' experience, caught behind for eight off 53 balls.
Dawson, who played the last of his three England Tests in 2017, grabbed his first wicket of the second innings when Matty Hurst missed an attempted big hit and was bowled for a 19-ball duck to leave the score at 44-4.
Wells battled hard to reach his half-century off 143 balls but when he was unluckily bowled by Dawson, playing on to one that spun sharply out of the rough, the result was inevitable with Lancashire 88-6.
The 34-year-old then claimed three of the final four wickets, including his 10th of the match when Tom Bailey was caught off a skier to wrap up the win with a day to spare.
Hampshire jump up to second in the table, albeit with other matches yet to finish.
While Dawson rightly deserves the headlines, it was another disappointing defeat for Lancashire on the back of losing to leaders Surrey by an innings and 63 runs at The Oval.
They are eighth in the table, but will fall to ninth when Nottinghamshire complete their match, with only three games left to save their Division One status.
It looks increasingly likely that the match away to Worcestershire in the final round of games starting on 26 September could prove to be decisive in that battle.