James Vince’s bold approach to keeping Hampshire in Division One looks to have backfired after Yorkshire recovered from 37 for three to reel in a target of 304 during a manufactured final-day run chase. Vince and his opposite number, Andrew Gale, a man at the heart of the champions’ pursuit with a combative 125, met before play to agree a first-innings declaration and a second-innings forfeit on the back of a rainy three days.
Hampshire are not arithmetically relegated as a result of this defeat but they are 16 points off safety and must now win at Nottinghamshire next week and hope other results go against Sussex and Somerset.
There will no doubt have been some grumblings from the Hampshire members as Gale and Jack Leaning shared a damaging fourth-wicket stand of 190 inside 61 overs through until early evening. But Vince’s decision, in consultation with his coaching staff, was entirely understandable. Assuming they had opted to play for a draw and bonus points, the maximum they would have accrued would have been 13. The win would have gained 22.
“I didn’t have to do a great deal of negotiating because I held all the cards,” said Gale, who was presented with the County Championship trophy after the match. “I did put my poker glasses on, though. They wanted us to chase 320 to 330 and we wanted to chase 280. So we met somewhere in the middle. We both wanted a game of cricket.”
The early departures of Alex Lees, Adam Lyth and Gary Ballance, the latter two run out and caught behind down leg-side respectively, put Hampshire on top. But Gale and Leaning turned the tables during a partnership that flourished during a wicketless afternoon session.
A key moment arrived just after lunch when Gale edged the seamer Ryan Stevenson to second slip, where Liam Dawson shelled the chance. Gale was on 35 and Yorkshire would have been 101 for four in the 32nd over had a diving Dawson clung on. Gale went on to post his 20th first-class century as part of the alliance with Leaning, who made 76 before departing after tea with 77 still to win. Tim Bresnan finished things off with 35 not out.
“It was never going to be 100% on our terms because we are fighting at the bottom of the table,” admitted Vince. “We thought it gave us our best chance of staying up and we gave it our best shot. We were fairly unlucky, without wanting to make excuses.”
For Yorkshire this win means they now have 265 points from 15 matches, a record haul in Division One cricket. A home win over Sussex next week would be their 11th, also a record in the two-division era. They also only need two more points for a record tally in either division since that format was introduced in 2000.
