Brown and Mullaney shine in Notts recovery

LV COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION ONE, The Rose Bowl:
CLOSE OF PLAY, DAY TWO: Hampshire 300 Nottinghamshire 274-7
Hampshire 5pts Nottinghamshire 5pts
Match scorecard

Kabir Ali and Hants skipper Nic Pothas (right) celebrate the dismissal of Bilal Shafayat

Veteran batsman Ali Brown and all-rounder Steven Mullaney rescued Nottinghamshire after they had been reduced to 123-6.

Brown, who hit 81 from 144 balls, and Mullaney, who finished unbeaten on 72, put together a century stand for the seventh wicket.

Fast bowler Kabir Ali made the early inroads for Hampshire, taking three quick wickets.

The visitors finished on 274-7, only 26 adrift of Hampshire's first innings.

Beginning the day at on 3-0, Notts were left reeling by a devastating opening spell from former England bowler Kabir. Under a leaden sky, Kabir produced a stunning opening burst of three wickets in 18 deliveries for just two runs to leave Notts struggling.

First Kabir produced a lifting delivery which Bilal Shafayat could only edge behind to Nic Pothas. He followed that up with the removal of Neil Edwards, who was judged to have nudged an inside edge on to his pad before the ball rebounded to James Vince at point.

The former Worcestershire seamer had Notts 17 for three when Mark Wagh played over the top of a straight delivery, and Hampshire's first-innings total looked a long way off when Sean Irvine struck with his first delivery to remove the in-form Hashim Amla, thanks to Nic Pothas's superbly athletic leg-side catch.

Brown began to piece together Notts' reply, initially with the aid of Samit Patel, as the pair added 69 in 17 overs either side of lunch. Brown reached his 50 off 70 balls, but Patel fell soon after the interval, slicing an attempted drive to Dominic Cork at mid-off to give Rangana Herath his first Hampshire wicket on his championship debut.

When Cork uprooted Chris Read's off stump to leave Notts on 122 for six, Hampshire looked well on course for a first-innings lead, but Brown and Mullaney frustrated Hampshire's bowlers.

The partnership was approaching dangerous proportions for Hampshire when Herath struck to remove Brown, aided by a sharp catch at mid-wicket by Cork.

Mullaney picked up the threads left by Brown and with Paul Franks, inched Notts towards Hampshire's first-innings total.