Jake Lehmann's Unbeaten 115 Revives Hampshire's Hopes
Jake Lehmann dragged Hampshire away from the brink and into the contest with a classy, unbeaten 115 on a tense second day at Trent Bridge, denying champions Nottinghamshire full control of this County Championship Division One clash.
By the close, Hampshire were 267-7, still 110 runs behind Notts’ first-innings 377 but no longer staring at collapse. They have Lehmann to thank for that. Him, and a young seamer who batted like a barn door.
Lehmann stands tall
Hampshire’s batting has been fragile all season. Only Lancashire have averaged fewer runs per wicket, and Hampshire’s mark of 24.50 tells its own story. Lehmann has been the glaring exception. The South Australian, playing on a British passport, has quietly piled up runs and arrived at Trent Bridge with one of the highest aggregates in the division. He walked off with that reputation enhanced again.
He came in with the ball still hard and Nottinghamshire sensing early damage. By lunch he had 33 from 29 balls, picking off anything loose, using his feet with that familiar, slightly jaunty rhythm that evokes memories of his father Darren. The strokeplay was inventive, the intent obvious. Hampshire needed someone to change the mood. Lehmann did it in a session.
His hundred, brought up from 160 balls, was a study in controlled aggression and stubbornness. He drove on the up, skipped down to spin, and rode the short ball. While partners came and went, he refused to budge.
By the time stumps were drawn, he was 115 not out, one run short of his best score in England – the 116 he made for Yorkshire back in 2016. He will have that number in his sights when he returns in the morning.
Notts’ fast start stalls
The day had begun perfectly for Nottinghamshire. Olly Stone, with the first ball of the morning, went full and fast, straight through Felix Organ’s defence for a thin edge and a simple catch behind. Organ gone for six. Hampshire 12-1. Notts roaring.
For 18 overs, though, the reply settled. Toby Albert and Nick Gubbins played calmly, ticking along without alarm. The pitch looked good, the outfield quick, and Nottinghamshire’s early advantage started to feel like a missed opportunity.
Then the game flipped in four balls.
Tom Giles, the fourth seamer in only his second match, trapped Albert lbw for 31, the right-hander playing around a full ball. Moments later, Dillon Pennington went round the wicket and produced almost the identical delivery to the left-handed Gubbins, who also fell lbw for 35. From 12-1 to 114-3, and suddenly two set batters were gone, both to balls they should probably have met with the middle of the bat.
Hampshire’s fragility threatened to surface again.
Middle-order wobble
They reached 141 before the rot set in properly. Joe Weatherley, on 25, misread Stone and made the fatal decision to shoulder arms. The ball nipped back, thudded into the pads, and the umpire’s finger went up. A third consecutive lbw dismissal in the innings, and a poor leave from a man who had done the hard work.
Liam Patterson-White then took control of the tempo. From the Stuart Broad End, the left-arm spinner sent down 21 overs for just 28 runs. He did not take a wicket, but he tightened the game like a vice. Hampshire crawled. Only 50 runs came in the 30 overs leading up to tea.
Ben Brown, who had battled through that squeeze, then threw it away. Set on 24, he chased a wide cut and carved the ball straight to first slip. A release turned into another crack in the innings.
Fraser Sheat, having already struck once, added a second in the space of ten balls as 18-year-old Ben Mayes edged out for one. Hampshire slipped to 190-6, tea taken with the match leaning heavily towards Nottinghamshire and the bonus points already on their minds.
Currie digs in, Notts denied
What followed was the partnership that changed the day.
Lehmann found a stubborn ally in Scott Currie. A tall seamer with a single first-class century to his name – made on loan at Leicestershire two years ago – Currie decided today would be about survival, not flourish. He faced 143 balls for his 35, leaving, blocking and absorbing everything the champions threw at him.
Together, they put on 97 for the seventh wicket across 38 overs, either side of tea. Nottinghamshire’s energy dipped. The fielders went quieter. Patterson-White kept hammering away, his spell miserly but unrewarded, and when he finally came off with the second new ball taken at 216-6, Notts expected the fresh cherry to rip through the tail.
It didn’t. The seamers pounded away but Lehmann and Currie refused to blink. The frustration grew. For a side that has not tasted victory since beating Surrey 18 days ago, this was the familiar ache of dominance not quite converted.
Only when 31 balls remained in the day did Nottinghamshire finally break the stand. Sheat, who had bowled with heart all afternoon, produced a beauty that nipped back through Currie’s defences and sent his stumps flying. Currie trudged off, job done, his 35 worth far more than the number on the scoreboard suggested.
Lehmann watched it all from the other end, unflustered, still there, still in control.
Game finely poised
Nottinghamshire will begin day three with ten overs to find the final three wickets they need for maximum bowling points. Hampshire, still 110 behind, know one more stubborn stand can drag this game into a dogfight.
For now, it is Lehmann’s day. A lone pillar in a season of fragile Hampshire batting, holding firm against the champions and keeping this match alive on a ground where momentum can swing in a single session.
