HALF-CENTURIES from Ben Stokes, Graham Clark and Michael Richardson helped Durham to match last season's fourth place finish in the Specsavers County Championship.

There are two days left in the final match at the Ageas Bowl, where Durham still have a lot to do to avoid defeat after reaching 242 for seven in reply to 411.

But the one batting point took them level with Surrey and even if they gain no more Durham will finish ahead courtesy of fewer defeats.

It was a sad day for Paul Collingwood, whose run of poor form continued with a duck, but it ended on a high with an unbroken stand of 56 between Richardson and Brydon Carse.

Two wickets in quick succession for the pacy Brad Wheal brought them together at 183 for six, but Carse again showed his batting prowess in reaching 30.

Richardson completed the eighth half-century of the match just before the close, but Collingwood's failure compounded his misery over the departures of two players to Surrey and the doctored pitches which have exposed his team's weakness.

Despite his observation that sand had been added to this surface there was never any chance of censure because Somerset have got away with it.

Hampshire were the last county to have points docked for a poor pitch, when a thrilling match against Nottinghamshire went down to the last ball in 2011.

The pitch was deemed to have taken excessive spin, so in the next home match they produced such a flat one that they replied to Yorkshire's 532 with 599 for three declared.

Needing to win to avoid relegation – a fate which now awaits Lancashire – Hampshire gambled on Liam Dawson and Mason Crane out-bowling Scott Borthwick and Ryan Pringle, with a little help from Will Smith.

They had Dawson on for the 12th over and there were signs of extravagant turn before lunch, but the expectations put a lot of pressure on Crane, the 19-year-old leg-spinner.

He began poorly and Collingwood was his only victim, while Dawson struggled with a hand injury, so Hampshire did not make the expected progress.

They were happy to achieve maximum batting points in the morning before losing their last four wickets for 14 runs.

Dawson became the fifth batsman to pass 50 but fell lbw for 62 to a ball from Graham Onions which kept slightly low.

Onions then induced an edged catch from Gareth Berg and knocked back Crane's off stump in a spell of three for 16. Lewis McManus was last out when he swept Borthwick to deep square leg and the clatter looked set to continue when Keaton Jennings was lbw to the eighth ball of the reply.

He offered no shot to Berg and was lbw, then Borthwick went for 15, still 28 short of his 1,000 championship runs, when he tried to cut Wheal's first ball and edged behind.

It wasn't the first time Borthwick had thrown his bat at something short and wide, as though desperate to cash in on any offerings in tricky conditions.

Mark Stoneman survived a few scares in reaching 28 at lunch, but failed to add before trying to lift Dawson over the top and miscuing to short mid-wicket, bringing in Stokes at 49 for three.

He played very responsibly in a stand of 87 with Clark, who for the second successive innings looked unlucky to fall in the 50s.

He reached 50 off 94 balls with seven fours, possibly helped by Dawson being off the field with his injury.

On his return a ball which turned a lot was deemed to have found the edge, but Clark looked aghast to be given out for 58.

In the next over Collingwood walked immediately when he propped forward and edged Crane to McManus.

Stokes had only three fours in reaching his unusually restrained 50 off 106 balls. He drove nicely into spaces to pick up a lot of twos, but without addition he was finally tempted by a short ball and holed out at deep square leg.

There was a third wicket for Wheal when Pringle turned him straight to leg gully. But the seventh-wicket pair stood firm for the last 75 minutes.