Cork and Dawson rescue Hampshire

Hampshire 147 for 6 v Warwickshire
Scorecard

Veteran Dominic Cork and youngster Liam Dawson rescued Hampshire with a 62-run unbeaten stand for the seventh wicket as Warwickshire's bowlers caused problems for the home side on a rain-shortened first day at the Rose Bowl as the visitors battled for Division one survival.

Dawson and Cork's dogged resistance came after Hampshire had been reduced to a paltry 85 for six - largely thanks to a three-wicket burst from former England international batsman Darren Maddy, who took 3 for 25.

Openers Michael Carberry and Jimmy Adams had got Hampshire off to a slow but steady start and they had reached 29 before Chris Woakes had Carberry caught by Rikki Clarke. Adams fell just two runs later when Maddy - exploiting cloudy conditions ideal for swing bowling - trapped him lbw plumb in front.

Australian Phillip Hughes and Dawson combined briefly to steady the innings, but in bowler-friendly conditions every other ball looked capable of breaching their defences. Hughes was next to depart when Maddy, bowling at probably half the pace of some of England's pace attack who troubled Hughes so much last summer, clean-bowled him with another well-directed cutter.

Better was to follow for Maddy just two balls later when Hampshire hot prospect James Vince departed, snared by a neat catch from Ian Bell. Despite the chaos around him in front of a sparse home crowd, Dawson remained a picture of calmness at the non-striker's end as the wickets tumbled.

But while he coped admirably as Chris Woakes, Andrew Miller, Clarke and Maddy found extravagant movement, boundaries remained in short supply and he was forced to deal predominantly in scampered singles.

Sean Ervine was the next Hampshire batsman to give Dawson temporary company, working his way to a 21-ball 15 before Maddy was once again in the action, taking a good catch off Clarke's bowling. With Warwickshire smelling blood as Michael Bates' dismissal to Keith Barker's left-arm swing left Hampshire six down and still shy of 100 runs on the board, veteran Cork stepped to the crease.

He not only provided a sturdy presence but showed the increasingly cautious Dawson that quick runs could be made, finding the boundary with a regularity beyond his team-mates.

With Cork blasting his way to 41 from just 38 balls and seemingly set to bludgeon his way to a quick-fire half-century, the rain - which had threatened to settle in for the afternoon - finally arrived, bringing a close to proceedings.