As Dan Vilas swung Liam Dawson on the rope, a loud roar erupted from the camping chairs parked around the Eggbarth border. It was funny, it was beautifully punchy: the slow burner of a run-chase that turned into a dry-throated thriller. lancashire snatched away the win to keep alive his first championship title hopes for 10 years.
At 177 for 5, with only 19 runs required, Lancashire looked home and dry, Hampshire’s main strike bowlers Keith Barker and Mohammad Abbas awkwardly subdued by a pitch that lasted as long as the match. , that became easier. So it was to his spinners, his former England spinners, that James Vince turned: Mason Crane and Liam Dawson.
And, like the flick of a switch, Lancashire began to crumble. First Danny Lamb entered second slip after a quick 26-run partnership with Vilas, who was already the third wicket for the gambling Crane, was bouncing and sparking through his whirlpool action. Then Lancashire first innings hero Luke Wood was patted on the bat-pad by a coiled Weatherly. Surely though, it was all too late?
And at this point, as the chances dwindled and runs were scored, and wickets settled, Hampshire’s captain, Vince, was impassioned at slip. But as Vilas went to Dawson and spanked him for four through midwicket, to reduce the target to three runs, Vince fell to his knees and put his face in his hands.
But it was not over. Two balls later Tom Bailey goes for a mindless quick single and Crane hits a straight at backward point to run him out for a duck. Number 10 Jack Blatherwick again took a bold run that saw him face a full over from the inspired Crane.
He went on for three balls, before panicking and poking a ball to slip. As the last man, Matt Parkinson, hush fell on Eggbirth like a winter frost. There was applause after Crane survived the remaining two balls of the over, before Vilas took a punt on Dawson and swung the ball for four.
Parkinson and Vilas hugged on the pitch before dancing in the balcony of the beautiful old pavilion, where Eggbarth sang his majesty.
Hampshire, finally denied brutality, prepared for the end of the long journey south and another campaign.
In the words of the brilliant Crane, “Jesus it can be a brutal game at times – we were just inches away from winning the championship and it’s hard to take the minute off.
“It really hurts – we said we would keep fighting till the end and that’s what we did and I’m so proud of the team and everyone I’ve been involved with.”
For Lancashire, who had dismissed Hampshire early in the morning to give themselves a chance to win, Tom Bailey scored a career-best 7 for 37, to Alex Davies, who had scored 44 at the top of the innings in his previous championship. An important innings of runs was played. Presence, for Lancashire, is a day of waiting. The title is in the hands of Warwickshire.
If they can put together enough runs on Friday morning and take Somerset’s 10 wickets on a dull, flat pitch: the title belongs to them. If not, players from Lancashire, playing Oasis songs as the night goes on, will have more to celebrate.
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