Final-day fifties for Freddie McCann and Haseeb Hameed saw Nottinghamshire to an expected draw with Hampshire on a soporific final day at Utilita Bowl.
After Liam Patterson-White jumped ahead in the bowling stakes of Hampshire’s only innings to return 3/115, the pick of the attack, the hosts were eventually dismissed for 454.
Felix Organ made a resistant 122 to ultimately end unbeaten, as the Rose and Crown ensured the game would end in a stalemate.
That gave Notts a lead of 124, which although significant, was not enough to ask Hampshire to bat again, so the visitors serenely progressed through to 4:50pm to end on 108-1.
McCann and Hameed were both unbeaten after putting on an unbroken partnership of 99 for the second wicket, with the former making 52* and the latter exactly 50*.
The day began with the follow-on, and thus the prospect of a positive result in an otherwise turgid game, still a distinct possibility.
Visiting hopes were raised further early on, when Josh Tongue struck to pin nightwatcher Eddie Jack lbw for two, and James Fuller followed him when bowled by Freddie McCann.
At that point, Notts would have needed to polish off the tail for no more than 15 runs to have the opportunity of enforcing the follow-on, but in an unfortunate turn of events, Kyle Abbott had other ideas.
He fired a four and two sixes in an innings of 17 from nine balls, dragging the hosts over the line and extinguishing the last possible piece of jeopardy in the game, before being bowled by Farhan Ahmed.
Sonny Baker and the unbeaten Organ withstood a further 18 overs to add 24 for the final wicket and take the hosts into the afternoon, before Patterson-White wrapped things up with the lbw scalp of the former for one from 43 balls.
With Hampshire dismissed in 178.3 overs - as the last ten were bowled with the lesser-spotted third new ball - that permitted the Notts attack some respite as the batters re-took the mantle.
It was easy-going for Hameed and McCann, who faced overs from, among others, batters Ben Brown and Fletcha Middleton.
The former went to fifty first, doing so in 97 balls with six fours, before Hameed followed him with an identical number of boundaries in 81 deliveries mere minutes later.
After the especially entertaining four-over spell from Hampshire captain Brown, who also usually fulfils the role of wicketkeeper, handshakes took place at the earliest opportunity.
The result, coupled with Surrey’s parallel draw away to Yorkshire, keeps the Green and Golds just one point behind the Brown Caps at the Division One summit with four games remaining.
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