HAMPSHIRE ace Kyle Abbott insisted he "couldn't ask for anything more" as he picked up his fourth five-wicket haul of the County Championship season.

Hampshire could finish second in Division One for the first time since 2005 after Somerset's loss at Lancashire handed Surrey the title.

Somerset’s defeat also saw them slip behind Abbott-inspired Hampshire, who beat Worcestershire, in the race for second place.

Hampshire beat Worcestershire by 235 runs and ended play by 11:30am on the final day of the match, ahead of a final-week showdown at Somerset. 

Abbott said: “It was a nice morning, we couldn’t have asked for anything more needing five wickets. Anything can happen in that type of situation and we could have been here until 4pm.

“We put in a lot of investment yesterday and that paid off this morning. I’m happy to get the job done and end our home season with a win.

“I went five-wicket haul-less last year so it is nice to pick it up again this year. I felt really good. I struggled in the first innings.

"One of the reasons we didn’t get them to follow-on was that we have followed teams on on flat wickets with the Kookaburra in the last few weeks and it took a bit out of us as a bowling unit.

“I didn’t feel like myself and I was running through sand but you have to run through it and with a bit more build-up before the day really helped. It was one of those days were everything was in rhythm and everything clicked.

“Some days I want to throw the ball back at Vince but today I was trying to grab it back from him. Our goal from the start of the season was to lose as few games as possible. If you are losing more than two games you aren’t winning a Championship.

“Other than the Roderick and Brookes partnership which flustered us a little bit, we pretty much dominated the game and had an almost perfect game. It is a nice incentive for us next week. If we can’t win it, we can at least finish second.”

Worcestershire head coach Alan Richardson added: “The score is a fair reflection of the two performances of the sides. It is disappointing to lose any game of cricket, and that is our fourth loss, but more so the performance never gave us a chance of winning.

“We played a very good side at home, who play a lot of very good cricket. We have to lick our wounds and make sure we are in the best shape for next week.

“We have to stay in the present and acknowledge we have achieved something we’ve only done once in the history of the club, and that is stay in the Division One.

“It is something we should be very proud of, but not something we should sit back and pat ourselves on the back for for too long.”