Essex’s chase had reached 20 in seven overs, the majority of them to Paul Walter, on 17, when the left-handed opener walked down the wicket and wafted hazily at a ball from Abbott and kept walking.

Even on a third-day, fourth-innings pitch, Abbott still extracted considerable life. But not even he can have believed his luck when Dean Elgar (eight) choose to inexplicably leave alone a ball that angled in and hit middle and off-stumps.

The South African had already hit Charlie Allison in the chest, causing the batsman to collapse momentarily in a heap, before Tom Westley became a third wicket, whipping the ball off his legs into the hands of short midwicket to go for nine.

Allison recovered quickly and played the anchor role in the fourth-wicket stand, allowing Critchley to mount a one-man assault on the Hampshire bowling. Abbott had figures of 10-6-16-3 from his first spell either side of tea, but when he returned Critchley thrashed three boundaries through the offside in his first over.

However, in his next over Abbott struck again, having Allison trapped lbw for 34 from 68 balls. But that was as good as it got for bottom-of-the-table Hampshire.

At the start of the day, their two left-handers, Gubbins and Jake Lehmann, took their overnight third-wicket stand to 74 with Gubbins the more aggressive, whipping Cook through mid-wicket to reach 50 for the second time this season. But Lehmann’s run of five successive half-centuries ended in spectacular fashion on 27 when he played around a delivery from Jamie Porter which left just leg-stump standing.

Ben Mayes hung around unconvincingly for eight off 31 balls before he was too quick on to a shorter delivery from Harmer and lobbed the ball back to the bowler. Gubbins followed when he nudged one that turned from Harmer to slip.

The two not-out batters, Ben Brown and Liam Dawson, must have chatted over lunch about a more forthright approach as they hammered Harmer for 14 in the first over after the interval with Dawson depositing one ball over long-on for six. Dawson’s contribution was short-lived, though, as he then tried to charge Cook, flung bat at ball and ended up getting an uncontrolled, one-handed, inside edge to the wicketkeeper.

The accelerated scoring rate continued with Brown and James Fuller adding 46 in 10 overs before Fuller was lbw, misjudging a delivery from Mulder.

That signalled the beginning of the end with the last three wickets falling in nine balls, two of them to Harmer in three deliveries. Scott Currie swept wildly to be caught at square leg over his shoulder by Elgar, Abbott retreated in his crease to be pinned lbw before Harmer was on hand at second slip to take the catch as Mulder dismissed Codi Yusuf.