v Hampshire (CC)

Two changes for Lancashire for their home clash with Hampshire., falling back to two spinners (Liley in for Bailey) whilst Livingstone is rested ahead of the impending One-Day matches and due to a dip in form, impressive youngster Alex Marsh returning.

With Oversees star Amla averaging near-on 50 this year ably backed by the other members of the  Hants batting lineup, the visitors put Lancashire into bat - which is where the Lancashire Captain would have preferred to be.

Lancashire have struggled to make an impact at the top of the order in recent matches and today was no different. A very turgid opening session saw just 39 runs in 33 overs, something Lancashire need to address in the pursuit of bonus points. Jennings (60) registered another half century, and Lancashire only managed 150 for the loss of both openers by the time bad light ended day 1. Eventually Lancs stuttered to an underwhelming 265 with Chanderpaul's 76 the only other other innings of note. 

In reply, Anderson struck early on, after first dropping Alsop at slip, a far more difficult chance came the way of Croft who bagged the catch. Although Lancashire kept it tight, wickets proved hard to come by for the bowlers. Adams continued to grind away with the bat, scratchily giving away chances but surviving, supported by the tail end. He was eventually last man out for 160 having been there from the start and having taken Hampshire into a 43 run lead. Liley ended with figures of 4-55.

Eating into the lead despite the early loss of Hameed, Lancashire raced to 103-1 before the close of play on day 3 presented a lead of 69. Chanderpaul (64) and Croft (104) made valuable contributions but as the tail fell away the innings was wrapped up on 300, setting Hampshire 257 to win in around 2 and a half hours of play.

The target was always going to be a challenging one, but Hampshire made it clear from the outset they had no intention of attempting a run chase. After 46 overs, and at 68-1, the match fizzled out into a bore draw.

Lancashire (8pts) Drew with Hampshire (7pts) MOTM: Croft (104)