| Vitality County Championship Division One, Utilita Bowl, Southampton (Day 3) |
| Warwickshire 455& 46-0: Davis 34* |
| Hampshire 365: Gubbins 119, Middleton 116; Yeats 4-37 |
| Warwickshire (5 points) leads Hampshire (2 points) by 136 points |
| Scorecard of the game |
Fletcher Middleton celebrated his first County Championship century but Hampshire and Warwickshire are likely to draw in the Utilita Bowl.
Homegrown player Middleton, along with centurion Nick Gubbins, put on 213 for the second wicket and made a total of 116 runs.
The afternoon collapse saw Hampshire lose five middle-order wickets for 45 runs, allowing Warwickshire to take a 90-run first innings lead.
Rob Yates and opening partner Alex Davies shot 46 and closed without missing a stroke, leading on 136 strokes.
Middleton scored 116 off 329 balls in 4 minutes in less than 7 hours.
Gabbins hit a 216-ball century against Lancashire last week, the 17th of his first-class career.
After an uneventful match, Hampshire finished 103-6 for 45 with 5 wickets to spare.
Gubbins fell to 119 shortly after lunch when he screamed at a Danny Briggs delivery and then slipped off his feet. James Fuller’s experiment in trying to improve the run-rate failed as he hit the third short of nine for five.
Middleton reached triple figures at a screen break and almost needed to be joined in celebration by proud captain James Vince.
It was a brief moment of joy for Hampshire before Vince was adjudged behind and Tom Perst beat Hasan Ali.
Liam Dawson and Ben Brown’s 41-point stand made things look a little better.
Yeats then took over and had Middleton leg-slipped by Dawson and Ian Holland before he grabbed the bat pad.
The part-time spinner completed back-to-back four-wicket hauls when Kyle Abbott hammered at mid-wicket and Briggs took him to 49 to end the game with Brown leading the way.
Hampshire were bowled out for 365 but the visitors ended the match in 15 overs.
Reporting provided by the ECB Journalists Network.
