Hampshire and Nottinghamshire remain finely balanced on poor pitch

Poor pitches can lead to points deductions, but the fact is they can also produce some fascinating cricket, and after two chaotic and wicket-strewn days this match could still go either way. The spinners did the damage on the worn surface on Friday. In the morning and early afternoon, it was Hampshire's young left-armer Danny Briggs who ran through the Nottinghamshire lineup after the visitors resumed on 35 for three. Remarkably, it took Hampshire's captain, Jimmy Adams, 15 overs before deciding to introduce the 20-year-old, by which time Samit Patel and Adam Voges had taken the score to 70. Briggs's second delivery drew Voges forward, turned and induced a bat-pad catch to short leg. Patel went leg before shortly before lunch, and by mid-afternoon Nottinghamshire were all out with Briggs having taken a championship best six for 65. He was helped by some smart catching, not least by Imran Tahir, whose celebrations after running 60 yards to hang on to Graeme White's skied slog were almost as impressive as the actual catch. A lead of 30 on this wicket was no small matter, as became apparent when Hampshire, having been 32 without loss, lost five wickets for only 38 runs. All five fell to Patel, who had Liam Dawson, Michael Carberry and first innings top scorer Neil McKenzie caught in the close-range catching circle before winning leg before decisions against James Vince and, somewhat generously, Sean Ervine. Only Adams stood firm, covering up as the ball spat viciously into his pads, but in the final over of the day he too succumbed, leg before to Andre Adams, the only wicket of the day not to fall to spin. Thirteen wickets having fallen on each day's play, an ECB pitch panel will be convened at the end of the game. The umpires, the captains and coaches of both sides, and the groundsman Nigel Gray will be interviewed, and a decision then taken about whether points will be deducted. A 24 point deduction for an unfit pitch would be harsh but the lesser penalty of eight points that is available to the panel seems more than possible.