Best feels alive – and Hampshire stir with him

Hampshire 270 (Alsop 72, Gurney 4-61) and 223 for 9 dec (Smith 61, Gurney 5-75) beat Nottinghamshire 189 (Wessels 72) and 235 (Taylor 71, Patel 65, Best 4-47)Scorecard

So much about Tino Best is saying and doing what makes him feel alive. And if from time to time the saying leads him to trouble, the doing gives him and us so much more than a few crude anecdotes because match-winning performances like Best’s today, in which he took 4 for 47, do not come around often.

Virtually every morning brings a tabloid headline, but 90-plus-mph spells that have you on the edge of your seat are disappointingly rare. Hampshire bested Nottinghamshire at the Ageas Bowl with a team that fought for every moment in the game, but Best’s influence was devastating.

Consider where the game was headed before Best turned it on its head with a stunning final assault. Just 88 were required from 28 overs and Nottinghamshire, five down, were winning. Samit Patel (65) and Dan Christian (31) had their teeth into the chase and, with runs coming as and when they wanted, Hampshire were starting to fade.

Will Smith handed the ball to Best and walked away in deep contemplation, knowing that this would tilt the game. Had he been too generous earlier in the piece?

With Hampshire ahead by 304, Smith had called the second innings to a halt to give Nottinghamshire the chance to bat 86 overs. Prior to the declaration, the formality of Harry Gurney’s five wicket haul – his fifth of his career – had been completed, giving him career-best match figures of nine for 136.

With the first ball of the chase, Best hit Steven Mullaney on the back. There was a stop and stare – there’s always a stare – then Best returned to his mark. That’s where the ball stayed for the next few overs: between the kidney and ribs. Jake Libby, struggling, looked to have found sanctuary on the back foot with a baying Bajan at the door. All the bolts looked to have been applied. But a bit of width tempted to prop forward. Caught behind. Best had begun.

For the second time in the match, the bowler locked horns with Michael Lumb. This time, though, Best would be able to send him on his way – trapped in front from around the wicket. And when Ryan McLaren replaced Best at the Pavilion End to remove Mullaney and Rikki Wessels – the scoreboard reading 68 for 4 – the hosts looked set.

But Brendan Taylor and Patel dug deep. Boundaries came: first one at a time, then seemingly in threes and fours. Patel, on 35, nicked Mason Crane between the keeper and first slip. Taylor brought up a first half-century of the season, from 77 balls, which Best seemed to take as a slight against him. A wayward barrage …

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