Better to lead than to follow

I got to the ground this morning afternoon just in time to hear an announcement over the tannoy: "Stephen Fleming caught Thornely, bowled Warne, 81" Notts were 203-7 needing another 220 to avoid the follow-on, and Shane Warne was bowling...

Oh dear.

But then Ealham and Swann forged a hundred partnership and it started to look like Notts might just reach that follow-on target after all...only for Swann to get out in the last over before lunch.

After lunch, Warne applied the pressure to the tail-enders

Ealham farmed the strike well, and reached his century with a volley of sixes off Shaun Udal; but when Charlie Shreck succumbed to a top edge, Notts were still 210 runs behind. Luckily it is a fashionable tactic in Australia not to enforce the follow-on, so Warne chose to try and bat Notts deeper into the mire. Giving his bowlers a rest was probably the most sensible tactic in such warm weather, but no such luck for opening batsman Jimmy Adams. Having been unbeaten in the first innings, he had been on the field for the whole of the match - that's 2½ days running around under the sun. So he could be forgiven for edging the ball - tiredly? - to slip in the first over of Hampshire's second innings

Ryan Sidebottom was finding the edge of the bat again, and when Shreck and Ealham chipped in with three quick wickets - including Crawley, caught by Gallian for only 23 -

Hampshire suddenly found themselves struggling at 55-5

Any plans they had to race to a declaration had to be reined in. Greg Smith even postponed his appointment at the knacker's yard to get a wicket - clean bowling Dimitri Mascarenhas, who couldn't quite believe it...

The declaration came after Warne himself had come in and (briefly) thrown the bat (to no great effect). Notts were set a target of 384 to win. Gallian and Bicknell safely negotiated the last nine overs of the day to reduce that to 360 runs from the 360 minutes playing time remaining tomorrow. Now there's a challenge.

Notts 362 all out (Bicknell 77, Fleming 81, Ealham 101no, Swann 54, Tremlett 4-43) & 24-0 require another 360 runs to beat Hampshire 572-3 dec & 173-8 dec (Pothas 43no, Ervine 46, Shreck 4-35)