Peter Siddle condemns Hampshire to innings defeat

It was Siddle's third five-wicket haul in six Championship appearances for Essex and took his tally to 34 for the season with just one game to play - against Surrey next week - before returning to Australia.

He was ably supported by Simon Harmer, who alternated between his traditional haunt at the Hayes Close End and the River End, and finished with four wickets for 64 - taking him up to 43 victims this summer.

Hampshire, losing for the fourth time this season, move deeper into troubled waters in the lower reaches of Division One, with just one point keeping them out of the bottom two.

Tom Alsop and Sam Northeast kept Essex in the field longer than they would have liked into the early evening.

Northeast steadied the ship during the morning with Kyle Abbott, before finally departing for 41, while Alsop was even obdurate, his innings spanning all three sessions while eking out 51 runs from 141 balls.

After losing the whole of the first day to damp spots where the wicketkeepers stand, Essex managed to pull off their victory inside three days, picking up a maximum of 24 points for the first time this season.

Needing to take eight wickets at the start of the fourth day, it looked as if Essex would wrap up the game in double-quick time, especially when Siddle carried on from his devastating bowling of the previous evening.

He had left Hampshire 17 for two overnight, and reduced them further to 24 for four in his second over of the morning.

With the second ball of the over he had Ian Holland playing on for a 25-ball two, and followed four balls later when Hampshire captain James Vince was undone by a beauty, an off-cutter that sent his off-stump flying.

Essex were held up for 14 overs while Kyle Abbott and Sam Northeast added 39 runs. It was a classic example of obduracy, though there was the odd outburst of aggression. Northeast caressed Sam Cook for successive boundaries either side of the wicket and Abbott lofted Harmer back over his head.

The fifth-wicket stand ended in discord when Abbott called Northeast for a sharp single to substitute fielder Paul Walter at cover, only for his partner to remain unmoved. By the time Abbott applied the brakes, substitute keeper Michael Pepper had gathered Walter's throw and removed the bails.

Harmer kept changing ends to keep the pressure on the batsmen. He was on at the Hayes Close End to end Northeast's stay to his 101st ball soon after lunch, turning one away and catching the edge of the batsman's forward prod with Varun Chopra holding on at slip.

Rilee Rossouw fell for 14 before Liam Dawson got an inside edge through to Pepper to become Siddle's fifth wicket.

Alsop, who hit 99 against Nottinghamshire last week, reached his snail-pace fifty with his eighth boundary, a square-drive off Cook. His three-hour vigil ended six balls later when Harmer extracted some extra bounce and Pepper juggled with the ball before finally claiming the catch in front of the wicket.

Berg showed some late aggression when he put Harmer over long leg for six, but became Harmer's fourth wicket, lbw, after scoring 37 from 107 balls to confirm an early victory for the defending champions.

Hampshire second innings (following on)
JJ Weatherley b Siddle 0
JHK Adams lbw b Siddle 8
IG Holland b Siddle 2
KJ Abbott run out  22
JM Vince (c) b Siddle  4
SA Northeast c Chopra b Harmer 41
TP Alsop † c sub b Harmer 51
RR Rossouw c Browne b Harmer 14
LA Dawson c sub b Siddle 13
GK Berg lbw b Harmer 37 
FH Edwards not out 4
Extras 15 (b 8, lb 2, w 5)
TOTAL 211 all out (f/o) (90.3 Overs, RR: 2.33)
Fall of wickets: 1-6 (JJ Weatherley, 1.5 ov), 2-13 (JHK Adams, 3.5 ov), 3-20 (IG Holland, 11.2 ov), 4-24 (JM Vince, 11.6 ov), 5-63 (KJ Abbott, 25.6 ov), 6-91 (SA Northeast, 44.6 ov), 7-114 (RR Rossouw, 53.4 ov), 8-131 (LA Dawson, 58.3 ov), 9-183 (TP Alsop, 77.6 ov), 10-211 (GK Berg, 90.3 ov).
BOWLING: JA Porter 20-6-49-0, PM Siddle 22-7-48-5, SR Harmer 29.3-8-64-4, SJ Cook 12-5-27-0, RS Bopara 4-0-9-0, T Westley 2-2-0-0, NLJ Browne 1-0-4-0