LV COUNTY CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION ONE, Trent Bridge:
CLOSE OF PLAY, DAY THREE: Nottinghamshire 270 and 315, Hampshire 305 and 7-0
Hampshire 6 pts, Nottinghamshire 5 pts
Match scorecard

Hales' previous first-class best was 78 against champions Durham in 2009

Nottinghamshire batsman Alex Hales hit a maiden first-class century against Hampshire to give his side the chance of a fifth successive four-day victory.

The 21-year-old hit 16 boundaries in a near five-hour stay at the crease, before finally being dismissed for 136 by ex-England man Dominic Cork (4-85).

Notts made 315, thanks to Paul Franks (45) and Andre Adams, whose brief cameo of 26 not out contained two sixes.

Hampshire closed on 7-0, needing another 274 runs to win.

An intriguing final day run-chase lies ahead for Hampshire, who lie bottom of Division One without a win all season.

After bowling Hampshire out for 305 at the end of day two, Notts began their second innings 35 runs adrift. And their fragile top order was soon exposed again when Bilal Shafayat drove a return catch back to James Tomlinson in the ninth over.

Hales, making his first Championship appearance of the season, helped overtake Hampshire's lead alongside Neil Edwards, but then saw the left-hander depart with the score on 55.

Samit Patel's poor run of scores in the Championship continued when he was removed in identical fashion for a duck and Steven Mullaney was lbw to Cork on the stroke of lunch to leave Notts struggling on 79-4. And Ali Brown then survived for an hour, only to be trapped in the crease by Cork.

But Hales turned things round, dominating a 95-run sixth-wicket partnership with skipper Chris Read (27). And he brought up his hundred with a straight six off Rangana Herath just before tea, at which point Notts had a lead of 156.

Read then lost his middle stump to David Balcombe, but the arrival of the new ball helped Notts increase that lead as Franks peppered the boundary boards with a flurry of attacking strokes.

Hales was deceived by a Cork slower ball into driving to short extra cover to end his 290-ball knock, but Franks thumped 10 fours off only 44 balls before the veteran Cork found his edge.

Adams then went on the attack to launch two sixes into the Fox Road Stand but was helpless to prevent Sean Ervine (4-31) cleaning up the tail.

Nottinghamshire batting coach Paul Johnson told BBC Radio Nottingham:
"Alex Hales has got all the attributes and plays fantastically straight.

"He can play well off the back foot but has a little bit of work to do against the spinners. He has been showing in one-day cricket for a year or two now what he's potentially capable of.

"He just needs to convert that potential into a lot of quality four-day cricket. We certainly believe he has the potential to do that.

"He has been recognised with the England development squad and just needs to kick on now and really show us he is ready to cement his place in the top order for Notts."

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