Dawson turns screw on Lancashire with bat and ball
Liam Dawson has scored 706 runs and taken 36 wickets for Hampshire in the Championship this summer
- Published
Vitality County Championship Division One, Emirates Old Trafford (day two)
Hampshire 389: Middleton 109, Dawson 104*, Gubbins 75; Wells 4-94
Lancashire 193-8: Jennings 56; Dawson 4-46
Lancashire (3 pts) trail Hampshire (5 pts) by 196 runs
Liam Dawson starred with bat and ball to move Hampshire into a dominant position after day two against Lancashire at Emirates Old Trafford.
Resuming on 46 not out in the morning at 330-9 with only last man Mohammad Abbas for company, he scored 58 out of the 59 runs scored to finish on 104 not out as the visitors were bowled out for 389.
Then, after the relegation-threatened hosts had reached 102-1 in reply with Keaton Jennings scoring 56, the left-arm spinner sparked a collapse as he had the Lancashire captain LBW.
The Red Rose lost five for 20 before eventually crawling to 193-8 at stumps with Dawson bowling unchanged for 28 overs, claiming 4-46.
Dawson had not even reached his half-century when he began in the morning and with a proper tailender like Abbas for company, even that was not guaranteed.
But a boundary brought up his 50 off 74 balls and he and Abbas started to bamboozle the Lancashire attack.
The 34-year-old had the field spread and turned down singles but he found the boundary with some big hits, with the home side unable to get at Abbas as they wanted.
Dawson's second 50 took only 51 balls as he completed a remarkable hundred - his second of the season - in a knock that included eight fours and five sixes.
Last man Abbas was eventually out for just one off 32 balls to finish the innings after 18 overs of the morning session, with Dawson not out after a last-wicket partnership of 72.
In reply, opener Luke Wells was out cheaply for six, but Jennings and Josh Bohannon saw off the new ball and fought hard to put on 90 for the second wicket.
But, as so often, Jennings was the key wicket. When Dawson got him LBW playing back, Hampshire sensed an opening.
Teenager Rocky Flintoff went for a 10-ball duck - a second in a row after a first-baller against Surrey - as he was caught trying a big shot against Dawson before Matty Hurst was snaffled at bat pad for four.
John Turner then removed Bohannon (43) and George Balderson for seven to have Lancashire reeling at 122-6.
George Bell and India all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer (27) battled to put on 48 for the seventh wicket before a brilliant catch from James Fuller at cover saw off Iyer.
Dawson claimed the last wicket of the day, having Tom Hartley caught for two attempting a big hit down the ground.
Bell remains on 33 but, trailing by 196, Lancashire face a big fight over the next two days to take anything from this game following Dawson's huge contribution in his 200th first-class match.
