Ervine inspires Hants to sensational win

2:26pm Friday 29th August 2008

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Hampshire (96 & 242-8) bt Durham (156 & 179) by two wickets

Points: Hampshire (17), Durham (3)

242-8 It's all over! A quite simply stunning run chase was completed by Imran Tahir (10*) who guided Graham Onions for the winning runs to the cover boundary. Hampshire will surely be back at Basingstoke after this result. A standing ovation welcomed Tahir and Sean Ervine (94*) on their return to the pavilion and rightly so

238-8 With six runs needed, Graham Onions replaced Paul Wiseman at the Town End but was soon edged for four through the slips by Imran Tahir (6*)!

234-8 Imran Tahir (2*), whose bowling has been the catalyst for Hampshire's much-improved second half of the season, is holding his nerve with the bat. After he scampered a single against Mark Davies with a nudge into the vacant cover region a huge appeal went up for a catch behind by Phil Mustard. But the ball blatantly came off Sean Ervine's pad and the left-hander responded by driving Davies's next delivery to the long on boundary before clipping another two through mid wicket to go to 94*

227-8 The revitalised Sean Ervine (88*) swept Paul Wiseman for four more runs as cries of 'ampshire echoed around May's Bounty

219-8 Diving low to his left, Michael di Venuto held on to a brilliant diving catch to give Mark Davies, who roared his approval, his 11th wicket of the match. David Balcombe (6) was the man to go, in the eighth over after lunch

217-7 David Balcombe's parents are two of the many nervous spectators at May's Bounty today but their son betrayed no signs of anxiety when he clipped two confident runs against Mark Davies through the on-side before following with a four to the mid-wicket boundary against the same bowler

209-7 Just what Hampshire did not need. Dimitri Mascarenhas (26)(44 balls) had equalled his first-innings score when he was bowled via his by a Mark Davies leg-cutter via his outside edge in the second over after lunch

LUNCH Hampshire are 203-6 (Ervine 76*, Mascarenhas 21*) after 63 overs

203-6 A wonderfully timed straight drive for four by Dimitri Mascarenhas (21*) against Liam Plunkett took Hampshire to within 37 runs of victory in the last over before lunch. The pitch has clearly flattened out and Hampshire have held their nerve to take this match into what will be the eighth and final session, whatever happens, by adding 95 runs in 31 overs for the loss of just one wicket so far today.

197-6 Dimitri Mascarenhas (16*) cleverly opened the face of his bat to guide four more runs off Liam Plunkett to the third-man boundary

192-6 The tension is unbearable at May's Bounty today and is getting to the Durham fielders. Callum Thorp dropped Dimitri Mascarenhas (11*) at mid-on following another venomous drive from the Hampshire captain, who scampered a single. Thorp was diving forward but the ball looked to have carried

191-6 Two more runs through mid-wicket for Sean Ervine against Liam Plunkett took him to 76*, his second highest first-class score for Hampshire in his 78th innings for the county. Signing a new two-year contract last week has clearly done the Zimbabwean the world of good

185-6 After Dimitri Mascarenhas (9*) regained the strike with a single against Paul Wiseman, he got a thick outside edge on a drive against Liam Plunkett which flew to the cover-point boundary for his first four. Hampshire now have the highest innings total of the match but need another 55 for what would be an outstanding win

179-6 Dimitri Mascarenhas (3*) means business today. After Liam Plunkett replaced Graham Onions at the Pavilion End, the Hampshire captain uprooted two stumps at the bowler's end with a thunderous drive. Plunkett got a touch as he followed through but a huge Dale Benkenstein appeal was turned down, with Sean Ervine (71*)fortunately safe at the non-striker's end.

171-6 With 69 needed, Liam Dawson (28) came down the wicket but worked a Paul Wiseman delivery straight into the grateful hands of Dale Benkenstein at leg slip in the off spinner's second over of the day, the 22nd. Dawson put on 94 vital runs with Sean Ervine.

170-5 A chinese cut by Sean Ervine against Graham Onions was followed by four to mid-wicket from Liam Dawson to increase the partnership to 93 - a new Hampshire record for the sixth wicket against Durham. Nic Pothas and Dimitri Mascarenhas's stand of 87 at the Riverside in 2004 was the previous best.

161-5 Sean Ervine (68*) edged a square cut against a Graham Onions no-ball to wicketkeeper Phil Mustard before hitting another four through mid-wicket in the day's 19th over.

154-9 Dale Benkenstein is persisting with his medium pace from the Town End which seems like a smack in the chops for former Winchster off-spinner Paul Wiseman, whose first-innings performance (3-3-0-1) was hardly ineffective

150-5 Another Sean Ervine edge between first-slip Shivnarine Chanderpaul and third-slip Michael di Venuto went to the boundary in the 17th over of the day, from Graham Onions. Ervine then paddled a single to reduce the target to 90

144-5 Hampshire's target dropped to below 100 when Sean Ervine edged his tenth four, through the vacant second-slip region, in Dale Benkenstein's second over. This could yet be Hampshire's day

140-5 Liam Dawson (19*) had passed his previous highest first-class score of 17 when he was dropped low down by Shivnarine Chanderpaul at first slip when Graham Onions found the 18-year-old's outside edge. The West Indian got both hands to it and the reaction from the Durham slip cordon confirmed it was a definite chance

139-5 Sean Ervine, 26* overnight, reached fifty (91 balls, nine fours) in the 13th over of the morning by working Graham Onions for two more off his legs

137-5 After a frustrating 11 overs for Championship favourites Durham this morning, captain Dale Benkenstein replaced Callum Thorp at the Town End in an attempt to break Hampshire's burgeoning sixth-wicket partnership, which is now worth 60. Ervine (48*) responded with another textbook cover drive for four before nicking the strike with a single to fine leg.

131-5 After hitting Mark Davies out of the attack this morning, Sean Ervine (44*) glanced two more runs to fine leg at the beginning of Graham Onions' first over

127-5 A glorious Sean Ervine cover drive raced to the boundary in front of the scoreboard in Mark Davies's fifth over of the morning. The left-hander then glanced another boundary to fine-leg to bring up the first fifty partnership of the match. Ervine and Dawson have so far left deliveries outside off stump with impeccable judgement. Hampshire chairman Rod Bransgrove is at May's Bounty today and will have been pleased with what he has seen so far.

117-5 It is another overcast day at May's Bounty, where Liam Dawson (16*) and Sean Ervine (32*) have so far been untroubled. Mark Davies and Callum Thorp opened the bowling this morning and have beaten the bat on a few occasions but Ervine and Dawson have extended their partnership to 40, having added nine in six overs so far today.

Hampshire resumed on 108-5 this morning