NOTTS' season has ended in defeat to Hampshire at Trent Bridge, handing Durham their first ever County Championship title.

The hosts were set the near-impossible task of chasing down 442 runs in just 76 overs after Hampshire had declared their second innings in the morning on 376-5.

Their task was made all the more harder by the loss of three wickets before lunch, leaving them on 48-3 as Graeme Swann (14), Mark Wagh (0) and Will Jefferson (24) all fell to Dimitri Mascarenhas.

But Mick Newell's side tried to keep up the quest for runs after lunch, even despite Ashwell Prince (12) becoming Mascarenhas' fourth victim.

Samit Patel and Bilal Shafayat then came together to put on 94 for the fifth wicket in some style.

But Patel (77) was unable to go to three figures as he was caught my Mascarenhas on the run from the bowling of Liam Dawson..

Soon after Shafayat (48) was the next to go, making it 191-6, as Imran Tahir picked up his first wicket.

And the game did not continue too long after the tea break following a rush of wickets.

First Mark Ealham (1) skied Dawson to Michael Carberry running in from the cover boundary and then Andre Adams was trapped in front by Tahir for a pair.

Darren Pattinson (6) attempted to hit over the top but gave Mascarenhas a fourth catch of the innings while Charlie Shreck did the same as Michael Carberry did the rest.

Notts were all out for 238 with Chris Read left stranded on 47 not out after some late hitting that included two maximums.

Hampshire completed victory by 204 runs, but Notts have still done enough to claim second spot in County Championship Division One.