Both sides went at it hammer and tongue as this LV Division One clash swung this way and that, but ultimately ended with Lancashire claiming eleven points and Hampshire picking up nine.
After the hosts were bowled out for 155 in their second innings early on the final day, they had Hampshire on the ropes at 63-4 in their pursuit of 225 to win from 71 overs. Then Chris Benham notched his second half century of the match, a gutsy 64 from 139 balls on a difficult batting pitch, to lift his side off the bottom of the table.
Had Benham, who hit 89 in the first innings, batted through to close, Hampshire would have surely been heading back down south with a second win of the season in their kit bags. But he was caught at point by Francois Du Plessis off the bowling of Sajid Mahmood with the end of the game in sight, and Hampshire captain Dimitri Mascarenhas (25 not out) was unsure whether to go hard for the win.
At 203-7, with 22 needed off two overs, Mascarenhas and David Balcombe had a fleeting dart at hitting the required runs. But it was all too little too late because they fell ten runs short, finishing on 215-7. Fifteen runs were required off the final over, but Glen Chapple kept it down to five by firing a few balls wider of the crease.
