County Championship: Hampshire salvage draw against Worcestershire

Skipper Ben Brown batted the entire day to save his Hampshire side from a County Championship mauling by Worcestershire.

Brown, who took over the leadership from James Vince over the winter, scored 109 not out, but it was the 331 minutes he batted that were crucial to securing a draw.

Hampshire had been completely outplayed for the opening three days but Brown, Tilak Varma and Liam Dawson’s half-century brought respectability back to the hosts – who took nine points from the match.

Bottom-placed Worcestershire toiled all day but could only take one wicket – but the 16 points they claimed could provide the foundations of an escape from relegation trouble.

The equation was simple for both teams at 11:00 BST – Hampshire had to bat the day, Worcestershire needed seven more wickets.

One thing had changed; the weather. Instead of mercury popping temperatures and blue skies, the Utilita Bowl was crowned by grey overheads and shining floodlights.

A mental switch had flicked as well with Hampshire’s batters after four sessions of collapsing to a position where an innings defeat looked the most likely result.

Brown had a steely determination not to return to the pavilion, other than for lunch and tea, while Varma had appeared unmovable in the first innings until a mindless run out.

Worcestershire’s disciplined bowling showed little change, but finally the hosts battened down on a pitch flatter than ever and a Kookaburra ball still limp.

They came in with gusto all day, particularly Durham loanee Callum Parkinson – the spinner found the odd ball to turn but not quickly or regularly enough to cause true problems.

He was rewarded with the wicket of Indian Varma, who fell for 47 after 143 balls and 167 minutes when he poked to short leg.

Brown didn’t care. He was well on the way to his slowest ever half-century, coming in 162 deliveries, and had now found Dawson for company.

A second new ball didn’t change much as Brown and Dawson simply batted. They occasionally went through spells where scoring looked freer, but never chased the runs.

Ethan Brookes even tried a famed bail switch to change Worcestershire’s luck but the only thing it managed was Brown edging, but Ben Allison dropping with his face at first slip.

Brown rolled to his second hundred of the season in 257 balls, Dawson passed fifty in 135 deliveries as the game felt safer and safer.

At 17:00 BST, Jake Libby decided the game was up, and the idea of taking six more wickets was improbable, to shake hands on the draw.

Dawson had lasted 191 minutes, but paled in insignificance to Brown’s five and a half hours.

Report supplied by ECB Reporters’ Network, supported by Rothesay