Hampshire frustrated by rain against Glamorgan

Rothesay County Championship, Sophia Gardens, Cardiff (day four)

Hampshire 162 & 300-8 dec: Albert 64, Neal 47; Kellaway 4-78

Glamorgan 161 & 21-3: Abbott 2-7

Glamorgan (11 pts) drew with Hampshire (11 pts)

Match scorecard

Division One's bottom side Hampshire had a victory bid thwarted by the rain in Cardiff as they set Glamorgan 302 to win and claimed three early wickets.

The hosts were hanging on at 21-3 against the pace of Kyle Abbott and Eddie Jack when a mid-afternoon deluge struck Sophia Gardens.

Hampshire declared at lunch on 300-8, Toby Albert top-scoring with 64 while Andrew Neal clubbed a brutal 47 from 20 balls and Ben Kellaway picked up four wickets in the late assault.

Hampshire could reflect on a dominant performance, but they remain 16 points adrift at the foot, with Surrey holding on for a draw in Essex.

Glamorgan, in a packed mid-table, have now struggled with the bat in successive weeks against the division's two bottom teams.

Resuming on the fourth morning at 124-2, Albert and Jake Lehmann played conservatively for 40 minutes before switching up the gears as they took 12 off a Kellaway over.

Zain Ul Hassan's first ball of the day was hoisted for six by Albert, but the seamer bowled Lehmann for 36 before limping off.

Off-spinner Kellaway benefited from the extra risks being taken, having Albert caught at deep mid-wicket while Ben Brown chipped a return catch after a chirpy cameo of 30.

But the captain chose to bat on until lunch and Neal took full advantage of the time offered, smashing four sixes and four fours in a display of clean hitting.

He was in line to break Liam Dawson's county record of 22 balls for a Championship fifty until he lofted former Hampshire man Mason Crane to mid-wicket, prompting Brown to call a halt.

Crane was on emergency opening duty straight after lunch with Ul Hassan injured, and he lost partner Asa Tribe to the third ball, bagging a pair as Abbott had him lbw.

Crane did not last much longer as he fended Jack to third slip, while Kiran Carlson lost his off stump to an Abbott rocket and Glamorgan were 14-3.

Kellaway and Colin Ingram were starting to dig in, although Ingram was fortunate to survive two deliveries from Abbott that went over the stumps, when the predicted wet weather arrived.

The umpires decided the light was bad enough to come off at 14:47 BST and torrential rain started moments later.

An early tea was taken, but with pools of water on the covers, there was no chance of Hampshire resuming their push to win, with just under two days' play possible across the four scheduled.

Glamorgan travel to Somerset on Wednesday, 2 September while Hampshire host Warwickshire, with only two days between the Championship rounds.