Essex slumped to their biggest ever Championship runs defeat at the hands of Hampshire as they were beaten by 450 runs at the Ageas Bowl.
Poor batting displays in both innings, along with a second-innings double century by the hosts' James Vince, meant the game ended within three days.
Essex won the toss and elected to field, with Reece Topley getting rid of Jimmy Adams for a duck in his first over. But steady knocks from Michael Carberry (35), Will Smith (34), Vince (41) and former Essex-player Adam Wheater (42) took Hampshire to 205 for five.
But Essex did manage to claw the innings back, taking the last five wickets for just 81 runs. Topley (3-65) and Ravi Bopara (3-14) were the pick of the bowlers as Hampshire were bowled out for 286.
In reply, Essex never got going. Tom Westley was bowled for one and then Bopara fell for the same score. Nick Browne (31) and James Foster (36) managed to put a partnership together, but then three more wickets fell with the score still on 69. No-one else managed to put a decent score together as Essex crawled to 121 all out, with extras being the third highest score on 18. Kyle Abbott did the majority of the damage with 5-44 from 15.1 overs.
Hampshire decided not to enforce the follow-on and when Carberry and Adams fell cheaply, it turned into the Smith and Vince show. The pair put on a partnership of 387, more than Essex put on with both their innings. Smith finished on 151 not out, with Vince smashing 240 in just 222 balls when Browne finally caught him off the bowling of Topley.
Skipper Foster used nine bowlers but could only take three wickets, as Hampshire cruised to 440 to set Essex 606 runs to win.
And Essex were never going to get close as they were bowled out for 135 in under 40 overs. Bopara hit 39 in a depressing loss for the Eagles.
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