HAMPSHIRE'S Will Kendall proved Middlesex's Nemesis for the second day running in the PPP County Championship match at headquarters.

On Wednesday, Kendall (pictured right) took three catches to deplete the Middlesex order and yesterday went on to stand firm in the middle and was the lynchpin of his side's first innings, scoring 85 before being caught behind.

It was an imperious batting performance, frus-trating the Middlesex seamers who had been finding good line and length. He and Dimitri Mascarenhas put on 41 for the sixth wicket until the latter was dismissed by James Hewitt for 22.

Kendall helped Hampshire to 285-9 before bad light stopped play, 29 ahead of Middlesex.

Timothy Bloomfield took his first victim with his fourth ball as Giles White edged him up to Justin Langer at first slip. His next two were bowled with Robin Smith being yorked and Adrian Aymes mis-cuing a similar ball on to his off stump.

But Bloomfield's real prize came with his fourth wicket - Kendall's scalp. As the batsman tried to glance the ball down the leg side, David Nash took the catch.

Middlesex's first innings score of 256 all out was healthier than it might have been thanks to some fine individual performances but Hampshire set about their task early on.

Openers John Stephenson and White soon ripped into the Middlesex attack and posted 33 off 26 balls, using the pace of the ball to hit bound-aries at will.

The partnership's cavalier scoring rate was ended with the 27th delivery as Simon Cook forced Stephenson to cut at chest height, perfect for Michael Roseberry to take the gully catch.

But Cook had to wait until late afternoon for more wickets when he bowled Shaun Udal for 12, adding Alex Morris's scalp while Nixon McLean's was the last Hampshire dismissal before the bad light intervened, skying off-spinner Paul Weekes to long on.

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