HAMPSHIRE are on the brink of a second emphatic Specsavers County Championship defeat in four matches after conceding a huge first-innings deficit - then collapsing against England’s James Anderson.

Having seen his teammates compile a mammoth 595 to establish a lead of 198, Anderson took three wickets to reduce Hampshire to 26-4 in 11 overs.

Hampshire were 50-5 at the close of the penultimate day at Old Trafford, after scoreboard pressure created by Dane Vilas’s career-best 244.

Vilas began the day on 76 and was dropped off the second and third balls he faced, both bowled by Brad Taylor.

Sean Ervine grassed the first chance at slip and Michael Carberry dropped the second at mid-off.

Vilas took full advantage of the opportunities he was afforded by helping Ryan McLaren put on 231 - a new sixth-wicket record for Lancashire against Hampshire.

Bailey’s bowlers were ineffectual and the Lancashire pair scored almost at will against deep-set fields.

McLaren, released by Hampshire after finishing last season as the county’s best Championship player, became the third Lancashire centurion when he hit Kyle Abbott for three successive leg-side fours.

He was lbw to Gareth Berg for 107 soon afterwards, ending the fourth-highest sixth-wicket stand in Lancashire’s history.

Hampshire enjoyed further success when Jordan Clark was lbw to Matt Salisbury for 24 and Stephen Parry was caught at short leg by Jimmy Adams off the persevering Taylor.

Taylor was hit for three sixes in a single over by Vilas as the South African cut loose in the evening against a tired and utterly dispirited attack.

Kyle Jarvis (30) fell to Berg and Vilas was the last man out, caught at short third man off Salisbury.

He had faced 275 balls and hit 25 fours in addition to four sixes.

What followed was arguably even more dramatic as James Anderson dismissed Jimmy Adams and Rilee Rossouw for ducks with successive deliveries and Kyle Jarvis bowled Michael Carberry (ten), who was playing no shot.

Anderson’s mastery of the swinging ball was again in evidence when he had George Bailey lbw for 10 and the England seamer finished with figures of 8-4-5-3, an analysis to gladden Trevor Bayliss’s heart.

James Vince (29) fell two overs from stumps when he drove McLaren to short extra cover.

“It was a massively frustrating and disappointing day,” said Hampshire head coach Craig White.

“We’ve let ourselves down there and we looked very very average.

“You can’t drop catches at this level but we did and we got punished massively. 

“Both the catches we dropped in the second over of the day should have been taken. 

“All I ask the boys is that they be switched on when we go out into the field and it didn’t look as though we were today. 

“Brad Taylor stuck at it but Matt Salisbury struggled. 

“Both Berg and Abbott’s workloads were high and I think the effort was there from the bowlers. We were just let down in the field really. 

“When the ball swings or seams, we seem to lose wickets in clumps. It was disappointing and hard to watch. 

“We just have to dig deep and try and get something out of this game. 

“It would be a tremendous effort but it’s still possible. Then we’ll have a look at the make up of the team.” 

Hampshire bowling: Berg 38-9-111-4, Abbott 27-7-75-1, Taylor 40-1-180-2, Salisbury 26.2-2-127-2, Ervine 12-0-67-0, Vince 3-0-13-1