Abbott bowls Hants to win over Worcestershire

Kyle Abbott's five-for was his 41st in first-class matches

Vitality County Championship Division One, Utilita Bowl (day four)

Hampshire 462: Gubbins 201*, Dawson 109, Vince 57; Virdi 5-133 & 204: Dawson 51; Virdi 4-108, Leach 3-47

Worcestershire 273: Brookes 132, Roderick 94; Dawson 5-88, Abbas 4-27 & 158: Libby 57; Abbott 5-36, Dawson 2-57

Hampshire (24 pts) beat Worcestershire (4 pts) by 235 runs

Match scorecard

Kyle Abbott put Hampshire on course to secure second place in the County Championship as they beat Worcestershire by 235 runs.

Abbott took four of the five remaining Pears wickets to return 5-36 - his fourth five-wicket haul of the season.

Hampshire collected maximum points to move into second above Somerset ahead of the two sides meeting next week at Taunton.

They last finished as runners-up under the captaincy of Shane Warne in 2005, although they did narrowly miss out on the title in the Covid-hit year of 2021 when they lost by just one wicket to rivals Lancashire at Aigburth, allowing Warwickshire to sneak in and lift the crown instead.

Although Worcestershire only picked up four points for their four days' work, it was enough to ensure their top-flight survival for only the second time in eight attempts since they won the first of their record seven promotions to Division One in 2004.

They still sit sixth - five points clear of Midlands neighbours Warwickshire. And, if they can better the Bears' result next week and secure sixth place, or even higher, it will be their best season's work since the introduction of two-division cricket in 2000.

Worcestershire needed a fanciful 277 more runs to win on the final day, but only lasted an hour as Abbott ran rampant.

He broke through in the sixth over of the day, skidding a short delivery into first-innings centurion Ethan Brookes' ribs.

Brookes attempted to pull, but it dragged off his glove to leg slip, where Toby Albert took a stunning diving catch.

Jake Libby had scored a patient half-century the previous evening but only added a further two runs before he became Abbott's second scalp in two overs, caught by skipper James Vince at first slip.

Albert then produced a second brilliant piece of fielding as Joe Leach's penultimate Championship appearance ended in a run out - after Logan van Beek had turned down a single.

Injured Tom Taylor came out to bat at number 11 with a runner, but either side of some swinging of the bat from on-loan Surrey spinner Amar Virdi, he only lasted six balls before edging Abbott behind to give him his 46th Championship wicket of the season.

Report supplied by ECB Reporters' Network.

Hampshire fast bowler Kyle Abbott told BBC Radio Solent:

"We couldn’t have asked for anything more. We could have been here until 4pm. We put in a lot of investment on Thursday and that paid off.

"I’m happy to get the job done and end our home season with a win. It is a nice incentive for next week. If we can’t win it, we can at least finish second.

"I went five wicket haul-less last year so it is nice to pick it up again this year. I struggled in the first innings and one of the reasons we didn’t get them to follow-on was that we have followed teams on flat wickets with the Kookaburra in the last few weeks and it took quite a bit out of us.

“I didn’t feel like myself and I was running through sand, but you have to run through it and a bit more build-up really helped. Some days I want to throw the ball back at Vince but today I was trying to grab it back from him."

Worcestershire head coach Alan Richardson told BBC Hereford & Worcester:

“The score is a fair reflection. It is disappointing to lose any game of cricket, and that is only our fourth loss, but the performance never gave us a chance of winning. We played a very good side at home, who play a lot of very good cricket.

“We have to stay in the present and acknowledge we have achieved something we’ve only done once in the history of the club, and that is stay in Division One.

“It is something we should be very proud of, but not something we should sit back and pat ourselves on the back for for too long.”