Image source, BBC Sport

Bit of a different one here... the Hampshire squad have bought departing head coach Adi Birrell a bull for his farm back in South Africa.

The picture above was flashed up on the big screen before the game got under way.

As presents go, it's... imaginative I suppose!

Good connections from Fuller but the field are out and sweeping them up. Four dots.

Big shout for lbw on the fifth but he is just outside the line on impact and Fuller keeps the strike with single of the last.

Single to Paul Walter.

Craig Overton over-pitches and Tom Westley smashes the ball through mid wicket for four.

The Essex captain is squared up, playing and missing a short ball to end a testing third over.

Victoria Polley
BBC Essex Sports Editor

Dean Elgar trudges off and that's exactly what Essex didn't want to happen.

It will be one of two ways - It'll either be straight forward or we will see more of what we saw yesterday with the ball.

I do wonder if that early wicket will change the mindset.

Dan Lawrence on and Brad Wheal has edged the first ball to first slip but it falls just short of Rory Burns!

Three solid blocks follow from the Hants No 11.

And now he drives through the covers for four. Just 25 needed now but 24 to tie which should be enough.

Lawrence fires one through misses everything. Hands on heads time for Surrey.

Westley dropped on 0published at 10:38 BST 27 September

10:38 BST 27 September

Essex 2-1 (target 95 to beat Somerset)

Really good ball from Lewis Gregory to dismiss Dean Elgar, angling in off the seam and Dean Elgar played around it from the crease.

He strikes Tom Westley on the pad and then nearly gets an edge through to Archie Vaughan at short mid wicket.

So close. So tough as the ball went fast and low to him as Westley turned the face of the bat.

James Fuller has a swipe at the first delivery and misses, setting out a stall that says they are not going to die wondering.

Three dot balls follow before the Hants all-rounder sweeps to fine leg for four.

Saif Zaib is in no mood to hang about and dispatches the third ball of the day (off Liam Trevaskis) with a well-timed swat over mid wicket for four.

He moves to 25.

Ben Raine to Jordan Thompson and the final day of a contest with huge significance for the relegation battle is up and running.

Mark Church
BBC Radio London commentator

Hampshire got themselves into a right old mess yesterday because they had five sessions to get 181 and at 61-0 really it was all about just knocking around but they tried to get on top of the spinners and got themselves in all sorts of trouble.

Paul Walter plays a slightly loose first ball from Craig Overton into the off side.

He plays and misses the third ball outside off.

He's off the mark fifth ball with a chip through mid wicket for two. In the air for a bit but lands safely.

A drive and a miss to end the over and the ball is through to the keeper.

Here we go... a season of struggle comes down to this.

It is sure to be short, sweet and bitter for those involved and Hampshire and their supporters are hoping for the first two.

James Fuller takes strike with Rahul Chahar at the Pavilion End.

Here come Dean Elgar and Paul Walter.

A small chase and perhaps a few nerves early on but these two openers will surely be brimming with confidence after both scoring centuries (albeit in calmer waters) in the first innings.

Craig Overton (6-88 in the first innings) will bowl the first over to Walter.

Saif Zaib will take guard first, facing spinner Liam Trevaskis.

He needs 13 more runs for 1400 for the season but he will be hoping for a little more than that today.

Stuart van der Merwe has four to his name at the other end.

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Not a bad line-up there.

Do you agree with that side or are there some names who you feel are unfortunate to miss out?

Let us know your thoughts and that, today's action, and reflections on the season as a whole today.

The final chapter of the County Championship 2025 is almost ready to be written.

We asked you to name your County Championship team of the season this week and the results are in.

Just under 29,000 teams have been picked by users of the BBC Sport website and app over the past week - and we can now reveal which 11 players were selected most.

For the third straight season nine different counties are represented, but it's an entirely new XI for 2025, while three of the team plied their trade in Division Two this summer.

Here is the team of the season, as chosen by you, the BBC Sport users.

Haseeb Hameed (Notts), Dom Sibley (Surrey), Saif Zaib (Northants), Tom Abell (Somerset), Marcus Harris (Lancashire), John Simpson (Sussex), Rehan Ahmed (Leicestershire), Jack Leach (Somerset), Kyle Abbott (Hampshire), Josh Tongue (Notts), Tom Taylor (Worcestershire)

Just three days ago, Essex were one of the relegation candidates, albeit a little less vulnerable than others.

Now they're on the cusp of a very respectable mid table finish if the hosts can knock off a small target against Somerset.

After near first innings parity, the game was turned upside down by some brilliant seam and swing bowling from Jamie Porter, who squared up the Somerset batting seemingly at will and took 4-18.

Somerset lurched from 22-0 to 99 all out in 27 overs and now a second-place finish feels a distant prospect.

However, Craig Overton also had a good spell with the ball in the Essex first innings, taking 6-88 and passing 500 first class wickets in the process.

He will surely fancy his chances of taking more if the wicket behaves like it did late on Day Three.

Craig Overton told BBC Sport:

“Obviously nice to chip in with a few wickets. The wicket, we felt was very good yesterday. Today it’s played very differently with the conditions and with the lights on. It’s done aplenty. But nice to get to 500 and hopefully there’s a few left in me.”

On the chase:

“We know it’s going to be tricky but you saw you can easily get on a roll and get a few wickets in clusters.”

Can they skittle Essex? we shall see.

Image source, Getty Images

Hampshire head coach Adi Birrell admits it is “a tall ask” to secure victory on day four but insisted belief remained in the home dressing room they can get over the line.

James Fuller and Brad Wheal need 32 runs given a tie would be good enough to secure their top flight status, but they are fighting against a ferocious spin attack from Surrey which took all nine wickets on day three.

“It is a tall ask but we believe that we can do it,” said Birrell. “It's been a tough day and we are in this situation. We have dug a hole for ourselves.

"We've twice had the game in our grasp and twice we haven't taken it. We shouldn't be in the position we are in in this match and we only have ourselves to blame.”

Rahul Chahar, who took 7-45, praised the work done at the other end by Dan Lawrence.

“It made a difference to me what he was doing well and stopping the runs at the other end, so it became an easy job to take wickets.”