Watch: Mohammad Abbas produced an exceptional, trademark spell of miserly seam bowling to run through Warwickshire on a wicket-filled day of County Championship action.

When Warwickshire, currently top of Division One, won the toss and elected to field first, Abbas might have hoped to be able to put his feet up before being required. Hampshire did reach stumps none down, but only because 20 wickets had fallen in the day, the Birmingham-based side making perfect use of useful conditions to skittle their opponents out for 89, with Abbas last out for one.

It was then down to the Pakistan nibbler to haul his side back into the game, and he did so with aplomb, his relentless accuracy and probing line removing five batsmen for the cost of 29 runs, all caught behind the wicket. Earlier this season, Abbas claimed a five-wicket haul inside three overs. This time he took 18, a marker of his miserly skills: his economy rate ended only a touch over 1.5 runs per over.

His scalps included England Test opener Dom Sibley, Warwickshire’s captain Will Rhodes, and their top-scorer Sam Hain and second top-scorer Michael Burgess. While Hampshire still conceded a first-innings lead of 27 runs, the deficit could have been far worse, and with the openers having made it to stumps 41-0, they ended the day ahead of the game. It was largely thanks to a supreme performance from a supreme bowler that they did so.

Watch the highlights of Abbas’ spell below:

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