KYLE Abbott expects to have more than four sessions to bowl out Essex after claiming his best figures for Hampshire.

Abbott, pictured below, took 5-44 as Essex were bowled out for 121, before Hampshire closed the second day on 264-2 – a lead of 429.

A first spell of 3-15 in six overs yesterday morning set the tone after Essex resumed on 55-2. He said: “The game’s certainly moved forward in the last two days, there’s definitely a result on the cards and we’re in a commanding position to say the least. “Four-and-a-half sessions at them will hopefully be enough.”

With Danny Briggs on paternity leave, James Tomlinson and Matt Coles took the rest of the wickets.

Abbott, who now has 32 LV County Championship scalps at 17 apiece, continued: “If we were told we’d be batting by lunch we’d have laughed but credit to Tommo and Colesy, they backed up well. It was a good bowling display.

“We’ve got a bit more pace behind the ball than them, we’re hitting the deck a bit harder so things are happening a bit quicker.

“Besides [Tymal] Mills, their bowlers are nibblers but hitting the deck hard’s been a strength of ours in the Championship this season and we hit the top of off stump as much as possible and made them play. “It’s a patience deck, there’s enough in it there for the bowlers but as soon as you start searching for it like we did in the last half hour on Sunday, when we thought we could have them four down, it’s still quite easy to score, as Vincey has shown.”