Hampshire remain third in the Specsavers County Championship – after a crossbow arrow ended a match between two of their rivals.

Fourth-placed Surrey’s match with Middlesex was abandoned as a draw when an arrow, fired from outside The Oval, landed in the middle of the square.

Middlesex were 247-7 in their second innings, a lead of 181, when the incident occurred.

Hampshire are now two points above Surrey, who have a nine-point advantage over fifth-placed Middlesex.

But Hampshire’s slim hopes of challenging Essex for the title received a further blow when the leaders beat Somerset by 179 runs, despite being bowled out for 159 on day one at Chelmsford.

Essex have a 36-point lead over Lancashire, who beat Warwickshire by eight wickets.

Hampshire are now 60 points adrift of the leaders, with four games left to play – starting against Surrey at The Ageas Bowl on Tuesday.