Lyndon James masterfully struck his maiden double century as Nottinghamshire took control of their Rothesay County Championship clash with Hampshire on the second day at Utilita Bowl.

James helped his side to maximum batting points with a stellar 203 not out, overtaking his previous personal best of 164*.

With him, Jack Haynes took himself to a fourth hundred of the season – the most in Division One – while Brett Hutton’s 71-run cameo allowed the Green and Golds to declare on 578-8.

Joe Weatherley and Fletcha Middleton reached close with no damage for the hosts – ending on 90 without loss, in arrears by 498 runs.

The day was a procession of bat raises from Nottinghamshire batters – six of them in total.

Haynes was the first as he converted his overnight 70 to three figures in 42 day two balls – 129 in total. It was the fourth time he had passed fifty, and the fourth time he had converted to a hundred this season.

But after a flourish of drives and boundaries, his 106-run stand with James was ended when he fell to Kyle Abbott following the introduction of the second new ball.

James kept up a fluent scoring rate throughout his innings as he mixed a constant flow of runs with a polished technique to produce a near-chanceless innings.

James shook off the nervous nineties to reach his second century of the season, and the sixth of his career - one of real fluency.

Liam Patterson-White had accompanied him for 66 runs – one of six partnerships to pass 40 – before James Fuller pinned him lbw.

But Hutton – who will be replaced by England-released Josh Tongue from tomorrow (day three) – arrived to ignite the innings even further.

Where fours had previously been struck, short balls were cannoned into the stands by both Hutton and James – combined they struck 12 in total – as any hope of containing them had disappeared for Hampshire.

Hutton picked out long on for an 87-ball 71, but James kept going despite being disturbed by tea when on 197.

He reached an emotional double century with a flick to the boundary and a fist pump, after which Haseeb Hameed waved his troops inward.

That gave Hampshire’s opening pair of Middleton and Weatherley a testing 32 overs, though both battled through with sturdy defences.

With Tongue in their ranks from tomorrow and the forecast looking clear ahead, Nottinghamshire will look to create inroads early to set up the final two days of the game.

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