Hogg builds big advantage for Lancashire

Hampshire 160 and 15 for 0 v Lancashire 398
Scorecard

Lancashire are on course for their fifth County Championship win of the season after taking charge against Hampshire at Liverpool on the second day. The hosts, replying to Hampshire's below-par first innings score of 160, posted a commanding 398 off 134 overs.

Kyle Hogg top scored with 81 off 111 balls - the highest score of the match so far. With a deficit of 238, Hampshire openers Michael Carberry and Jimmy Adams then reached 15 for none from seven overs of their second innings at the close.

Resuming the day on 124 for 2 Lancashire were made to work hard for their runs early on. They only scored two runs in the first eight overs, with left-arm pace bowler James Tomlinson bowling eight maidens in his first 10 overs of the day to Mark Chilton and Shivnarine Chanderpaul.

Chilton was the first Lancashire wicket to fall when caught behind by Michael Bates standing up to the stumps off Tomlinson. He departed for 48 off 175 balls and it was the seventh time this season he has fallen in the forties. Steven Croft was also caught behind by Bates off Chris Wood, Hampshire's other left-arm quick bowler.

And when Chanderpaul was run out by Carberry's direct hit from square leg for 38 Lancashire were 144 for 5 in the 68th over before lunch. At that stage Hampshire would have fancied their chances of staying in the game but Gareth Cross, Tom Smith, Sajid Mahmood and Hogg boosted the total late.

Cross and Smith (31) shared 75 in 25 overs for the sixth wicket, Cross hitting 44 off 75 balls. And then Mahmood and Hogg united for the highest stand of the match so far - 89 inside 15 overs for the eighth wicket - a far cry from the 40 runs scored from 29 overs in the morning session.

Cross had been well caught by Adams at gully off Wood, who also trapped Smith lbw to reduce the score to 225 for seven in the 97th over. But Mahmood, who smashed Wood over long on for a lusty maximum, passed 500 runs for the season with a series flicks, chops and drives on the way to 47 off 58 balls.

He fell to the medium pace of Neil McKenzie in the first over after tea and it provided the South African batsman with only his eighth wicket of a career spanning 209 first-class matches. McKenzie later had Glen Chapple caught by Adams at point before Hogg, who took four wickets on day one, brought up his belligerent 50 off 86 balls with seven fours.

The 27-year-old left hander hit four more fours and a six over mid-wicket as part of a 10th wicket stand of 54 with Gary Keedy. But he fell trying to repeat his six over mid-wicket off left arm spinner Danny Briggs with James Vince taking a juggling effort whilst trying to navigate the boundary rope at long on. Hogg was then back in action with the new ball before close, but could not break through.