Hampshire relegated after Leicestershire chase down 334 at Uptonsteel Grace Road
Leicestershire beat Hampshire by five wickets at Uptonsteel Grace Road on day four of the Rothesay County Championship Division One match, a result that confirmed Hampshire's relegation to Division Two for the first time since winning promotion in 2014.
Hampshire scored 214 and 363, with James Gubbins making 133 and Aamer Patel taking 4-103; Leicestershire made 244 and 335-5, Nick Kelly 86 and Ben Cox 75* as Leicestershire (19 pts) beat Hampshire (3 pts) by five wickets to chase 334. The victory was completed by 14:05 BST with two wickets down on the final day.
New Zealand international Nick Kelly and wicketkeeper Ben Cox compiled a 158-run fifth-wicket partnership that propelled the chase, a stand that followed skipper Ian Holland's nine-wicket match contribution. Cox finished unbeaten on 75 and Kelly scored 86 as the home side reached the target.
Leicestershire retain a mathematical chance of avoiding relegation despite being docked 27 points on Wednesday for preparing a sub-standard pitch for last month's win over Glamorgan; that punishment is subject to appeal. The points deduction leaves it a near certainty, according to the report, that Leicestershire will also be playing in Division Two next year.
The Foxes began the final day requiring 178 runs with Hampshire needing seven wickets to keep their season alive, and home supporters were seeking a boost ahead of Sunday's One-Day Cup final against Middlesex. Kelly opened the chase with two cover drives off Scott Currie for early boundaries, before Hamza Shaikh was caught behind off a thin outside edge for Kyle Abbott's 62nd wicket of the campaign.
The pitch, described as prepared in a similar fashion to the Glamorgan strip with grass in the middle and two shaved ends, became less testing for batters as the match wore on. Hampshire's attack offered moments of control—off-spinner Felix Organ at one end, Abbott disciplined and James Fuller tidy—but 17-year-old Manny Lumsden, who had bowled impressively against Nottinghamshire last week, frequently missed length and conceded runs.
Cox drove Lumsden to the off-side rope to leave the required total at exactly 100, and Kelly completed his third half-century in Leicestershire colours as the fifth-wicket pair nudged singles to keep the chase steady. Three boundaries conceded by Lumsden in the final over of the morning left Leicestershire 67 from victory, and Cox reached 50 from 76 balls as the return of Abbott and Currie with the new ball failed to alter the momentum.
Kelly sustained a blow to his right hand, received a couple of painkillers and returned to hit four boundaries in the same over off Lumsden before being caught on the rope while attempting to finish the game. The winning boundary came when Cox struck a Lumsden no-ball—the bowler's eighth of the match—with Cox having been described as almost flawless behind the stumps this season and also noted as looking unlikely to be with the county next season.
The only route remaining for Leicestershire to avoid relegation is to beat Warwickshire at Edgbaston next week and in doing so gain 20 more points than Essex pick up from their concluding fixture away to Glamorgan; the 27-point deduction and any appeal will determine whether that scenario is sufficient to change their Division Two fate.
