Hampshire 203-4 beat Nottinghamshire by six wickets with 40 balls to spare

Hampshire edged closer to the Friends Provident Trophy quarter finals with a third sucessive win, against Nottinghamshire at the Rose Bowl.

The emphatic six-wicket victory against their main group A rivals sent the Hawks top following Leicestershire’s surprise win against previous leaders Worcestershire at New Road.

Hampshire are away to Worcestershire tomorrow and will go there full of confidence after beating Notts with 6.4 overs to spare.

Despite losing the toss, they were firm favourites after the first 15 powerplay overs, when Dimitri Mascarenhas (4-39) and Dominic Cork (3-13) reduced the visitors to 50-6.

In his first game since returning from the Indian Premier League, Hampshire captain Mascarenhas took three wickets in his first four overs.

He excelled early on, dismissing openers Mark Wagh and Ali Brown before Michael Lumb held on to a low chance at slip to account for Alex Hales.

After Cork trapped former Hampshire overseas player Adam Voges first ball and had England discard Samit Patel caught at square leg, Mascarenhas completed the rout of the Notts top order when Chris Read, having survived what looked an outstanding Tom Burrows catch, skied a slower ball.

Once the first two powerplays had been completed, Will Jefferson put on 94 in 24 overs with left-hander Paul Franks to restore some respectability to the Notts innings.

One of a handful of the Rose Bowl’s double centurions, Jefferson hit a 113-ball 93 to keep Notts in the game.

But after reaching 50 at nearly a run a ball, Franks became the first of three Billy Taylor victims in as many overs.

During the final five-over powerplay, Andre Adams drove Taylor for a gigantic six on to the top tier of the Rose Bowl’s pavilion and the Hampshire seamer was on the receiving end of Jefferson’s second maximum over mid wicket.

Dropped on one by Burrows, Jefferson also appeared fortunate not to be lbw to slow left armer Danny Briggs’s first delivery in senior cricket.

But after Ryan Sidebottom helped add 36 for the last wicket, the 6ft 10in batsman was finally beaten by a Cork yorker at the beginning of the final over.

Despite the clatter of early wickets, the track was a good one and Michael Lumb’s 63-ball 57 set the tone for Hampshire’s chase.

Well supported by John Crawley (25), Lumb attacked Sidebottom, his former Yorkshire teammate, with his usual one-day flair before being trapped lbw going back to Patel.

Three overs later, Sean Ervine had his off stump knocked back by a Sidebottom beauty for a 33-ball 34, which included a big six over mid-wicket against Franks’ medium pace.

With the hard work done, Michael Carberry (42 not out) eased the Hawks home.

Manager Giles White said: "There’s always something in the wicket early on and we exploited that.

"They gave a few wickets away and we had the odd stroke of luck but we applied pressure. Jefferson batted well but it was a disciplined performance in the field and the batters did their job.

"Lumby and John Crawley got us off to a good start and from there we were always in the box seat."

Hampshire are now a point clear of Notts and Worcestershire after five games each.

White added: "It feels good to be top after having our feet up over the weekend. Not being able to play against Ireland wasn’t ideal for us but we always felt Leicestershire could cause an upset and they did so today."

Hampshire bowling: Mascarenhas 10-1-39-4, Cork 9.1-0-13-3, Taylor 10-0-40-3, Ervine 6-0-31-0, Briggs 10-0-44-0, Dawson 4-0-24-0

Notts bowling: Sidebottom 10-0-39-2, Adams 7-0-31-0, Ealham 8-0-40-1, Patel 10-1-41-1, Franks 6-0-29-0, Voges 2.2-0-18-0