HAMPSHIRE hero Liam Dawson hailed an "amazing shift" as he starred with the bat to secure a late County Championship win over Kent.

Dawson stunned Utilita Bowl with a 28-ball 56 to seal Hampshire a sensational six-wicket victory after being given 179 runs to chase in 31 overs.

Toby Albert, Fletcha Middleton and James Vince got Hampshire off to a quick start and Dawson's two sixes and seven fours meant he completed the win in 23 overs.

It keeps Hampshire in the title race with three wins in their last four matches and five games left before a champion is declared.

After the match, all-rounder Dawson said: "It is an amazing win. We did about 210 overs in the field.

"Everyone put in an amazing shift, especially Abbo there to get five wickets. A phenomenal effort from everyone and a great win.

“It is never easy chasing anything over 150 in the fourth innings, especially with only 30 overs left.

"We knew it was going to be tough but we also knew the wicket was still pretty good and probably got better as the game went on.

Dawson continued: “We were always going to go for it. The way the openers started and got to 40 without loss made a huge difference.

"The way Vince and Gubbo batted was brilliant as well. I was a little worried about the weather, I was looking at the clouds at the back with about 30 runs left.

"I decided to take Gilchrist on a bit and I’m delighted to get us over the line. We have played some really good cricket in the last four games.

"We know how we can play four-day cricket and was a little off at the start of the year but I think we have really clicked now.

“We are in a decent position in the league now with five games left. We are in it and that’s all we can ask for.”

Hampshire Cricket now turns attention to the T20 Blast with no County Championship fixture until the end of August.

When they return, they will face Essex, Lancashire, Kent and Worcestershire before finishing the campaign at Somerset in September.

Vince's side are 37 points off the summit of Division One with reigning champions Surrey leading the chase. 

Hampshire left Kent without a win in the County Championship since May 3 and 84-maker Harry Finch credited Dawson's stellar efforts. 

He said: “The plan today was to get through to the end and we weren’t too far away.  If I hadn’t got out in the last over before tea then we could have dragged things out.

"I felt like we had a decent chance of trying to win that but fair play to Daws, he played unbelievably.

“I don’t feel we have lost this one, it feels like they won this one. We have just spoken in there that when our backs are against the ropes, we tend to play our best cricket.

"I’m fully confident that we can put in some performances. It has been disappointing with results but it is about momentum.

"If we get one win away they will start to come. We aren’t actually playing that badly and in this game we showed plenty of fight.”