BBC SPORT | Cricket | England | Bangar bolsters Test hopes

Tour match, Southampton, day two of three (tea): Hampshire 123 all out v India 236 & 81-2

Sanjay Bangar starred with bat and ball on day two of the tour match at the Rose Bowl, taking six wickets and scoring an unbeaten half century.

But a charitable declaration from touring captain Sourav Ganguly, in search of extra time for his bowlers, saw Hampshire retain hope of victory.

Sanjay Bangar
Bangar made his Test debut last December
In the absence of likely Test opening bowlers Ashish Nehra and Zaheer Khan, Bangar picked up four for 40 as Hampshire were bowled out for a paltry 123 in their first innings.

He led the way with the bat, striking 52 from 100 balls, with six fours and a six, before Ganguly set Hampshire 253 to win

And the 21-year-old, who made his Test debut against England in December, took the two second innings wickets to fall in 14 overs before stumps.

Openers Neil Johnson and Will Kendall were both caught in single figures.

And with a day left to play, Hampshire were 43 for two, needing 210 more for victory.

Back-up success

Earlier, Ganguly joined the attack, contributed three wickets in four overs as the hosts were dismissed 113 runs short of first innings parity.

Tinu Yohannan, also in search of a Test place, made the initial breakthrough, bowling England Test batsman John Crawley for 15 after an overnight second wicket partnership of 56.

Sourav Ganguly
Ganguly took three wickets in four overs
It was the first of five wickets to fall for the addition of 30 runs.

Bangar followed up with the scalp of Johnson for a brisk 45 and then dealt with Robin Smith and Lawrence Prittipaul with consecutive deliveries.

After a short spell from spinners Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh, without success, Ganguly brought himself in and quickly dismissed Simon Francis, Adrian Aymes and Shaun Udal.

Shaun Udal picked up the wicket of Virender Sehwag as India batted again, taking his match haul to six.

And James Hamblin bagged a brace after tea, having Ajay Ratra caught by Johnson for 26 and VVS Laxman offering a return catch for a duck.

Opener Wasim Jaffer continued his poor recent form, edging Lawrence Prittipaul's medium pace behind for 32.

Hampshire: N C Johnson, W S Kendall, J P Crawley, R A Smith (Capt) J D Francis, L R Prittipaul, A N Aymes (Wkt), A D Mascarenhas S D Udal, J R C Hamblin, J A Tomlinson.

India: W Jaffer, V Sehwag, R Dravid, S R Tendulkar S C Ganguly (Capt), V V S Laxman, A Ratra (Wkt), S B Bangar Harbhajan Singh, A Kumble, T Yohannan.

Umpires: P Willey and N Cowley