A pea-souper heralded the start of the day, hazy sunshine marked its end and in between Nottinghamshire's title aspirations all but disappeared. Needing a good day to bolster their ambition, Chris Read's team could not have had a worse one, taking only four wickets. Now Imran Tahir awaits them.

Nottinghamshire begin the final day of this campaign trailing by 368 and, given Durham's strong position at Canterbury, they rely on an early declaration and then a miracle to win the title. The news from Canterbury did not do much for Hampshire's mood, either, since a Durham win will end their hopes of second place.

It was Simon Hughes who remarked, after one of Middlesex's triumphs, that winning the championship is a weird sensation, there being more atmosphere to be found in a doctor's waiting room. County cricket rarely attracts sell-out crowds, particularly at the Test match grounds, but even by these standards, the atmosphere this week at Trent Bridge has been muted.

By late afternoon both the crowd and home team appeared resigned to bridesmaid's status again. Earlier, Charlie Shreck had toiled hard in an opening ten-over burst that deserved better; it was a day too far for Darren Pattinson (he must be looking forward to playing for his club side in Melbourne next week) and Graeme Swann and Samit Patel had their limitations as frontline spinners exposed. Chris Read looked as though he had too much on his mind, dropping a couple of catches and looking hacked off with things.

Nic Pothas had no need to remind us of his combative talents, which he did when flogging a tiring attack for 104, but there were other signs of promise for Hampshire's future. Michael Brown and Chris Benham played sparkily and Liam Dawson, just two away from his first half-century in first-class cricket, gave notice of bright days to come.

Scoreboard

Hampshire: First Innings 203 (C E Shreck 4 for 48)

Second Innings (overnight 102-1)
M J Brown lbw b Swann 93
M J Lumb lbw b Adams 27
C C Benham b Patel 66
S M Ervine c Jefferson b Ealham 11
†N Pothas not out 104
L A Dawson not out 48
Extras (lb 3) 3
Total (5 wkts, 129 overs) 376

Fall of wickets: 1-52, 2-110, 3-165, 4-182, 5-267.

Bowling: Shreck 23-5-61-0; Pattinson 12-0-70-0; Ealham 17-4-33-1; Adams 22-4-68-2; Swann 28-5-71-1; Patel 25-4-59-1; Shafayat 2-0-11-0.

Nottinghamshire: First Innings 211 (S R Patel 70, A G Prince 57; Imran Tahir 4 for 55)

Umpires: T E Jesty and R A Kettleborough.

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