Hampshire have been relegated to Division Two of the County Championship for the first time since winning promotion in 2014 after Leicestershire completed a five-wicket win at Uptonsteel Grace Road.

New Zealand international Nick Kelly and wicketkeeper Ben Cox did the heavy lifting for Leicestershire, backing up skipper Ian Holland's nine-wicket contribution by sharing a 158-run fifth-wicket partnership as the home side chased down the 334 they needed to win. It wrapped up victory by 14:05 BST with only two wickets lost on the final day.

The result means Leicestershire retain a mathematical chance of survival going into the final week despite the 27-point penalty they were handed on Wednesday for preparing a sub-standard pitch for last month's win over Glamorgan, although it is a near certainty that they too will be playing in Division Two next year.

While the punishment remains subject to appeal, the only way Leicestershire can avoid going down is by wrecking Warwickshire's anticipated title celebrations with victory at Edgbaston next week and in doing so taking 20 more points than Essex pick up from their concluding fixture, away to Glamorgan.