Organ century helps Hampshire to draw with Notts

BBC News

4 days ago

Rothesay County Championship Division One, Utilita Bowl (day four)Nottinghamshire 578-8d & 108-1: McCann 52*, Hameed 50*; Fuller 1-16Hampshire 454: Organ 122*, Tilak 112, Middleton 52, Weatherley 52; Patterson-White 3-115, McCann 2-32, Abbas 2-74Notts (14 pts) draw with Hampshire (12 pts)Match scorecard
Hampshire's Felix Organ scored his fourth County Championship century to avoid any final day excitement for title-chasing Nottinghamshire at Utilita Bowl.Organ patiently collected his highest first-class score of 122 not out to make sure Hampshire avoided the follow-on to turn the day into a wait for the inevitable 16:50 BST draw.The 14 points Nottinghamshire take from the match puts them level with Surrey at the top of Division One – with four rounds still to play.Hampshire's 12 points leaves them sixth but just 13 points above the bottom two, having only won twice in the Championship this season.Organ is Hampshire's version of James Milner. He fills in with whatever role his side needs.He began his career as an opening batter but more often finds himself in the side when a spinning pitch is expected, where he slots in lower down the order to lengthen the batting options.He is a fairly reliable insurance in both his skillsets, and it was his batting that took the fore on this occasion.He had begun the week by scoring 101 out of 171 for his Southern Premier Cricket League side St Cross Symondians, where he also took a five-for to secure a victory.He ended it by making sure his county didn't lose, and slip deep into the relegation battle.Organ had already scored 70 on the third evening, largely in a 126-run partnership with Indian sensation Tilak Varma, but returned this morning with 61 runs still required to avoid the follow-on.He needed others to stick with him.Nightwatchman Eddie Jack fell leg before to Josh Tongue – who produced a ferocious early morning spell – but James Fuller hung around for over and hour to score 16 in 40 balls to get Hampshire within a sniff of their target before he was bowled.Kyle Abbott simply went dot, four, six, six to alleviate any fears of defeat and beat the follow-on requirements. It left just over four hours to reach the earliest possible finish time.Each of Organ's three previous centuries have bettered his previous best score. His maiden was exactly 100 back in 2019, before scoring 107 at home to Gloucestershire and then 118 in the reverse fixture in 2022.The trend continued after he went to three figures in 266 with a six, as he was left unbeaten on 122 after Abbott was castled by Farhan Ahmed and Sonny Baker – who took 35 balls to get off the mark – was lbw.Nottinghamshire boasted a first-innings lead of 124 but there was little chance of setting up anything.Ben Slater calved to point before the last half an hour saw wicketkeeper Ben Brown give his pads and gloves to Varma to bowl some left-arm in an attempt to add to his one first-class wicket, while Fletcha Middleton showed off his medium pacers for the first time in professional cricket.Haseeb Hameed and Freddie McCann reached half-centuries before the captains shook hands.
Report supplied by ECB Reporters' Network, supported by Rothesay