Trott gives Hampshire a one-man mauling

Warwickshire 383-7 v Hampshire

After losing the bulk of the first day's play to rain everyone, players and spectators, was itching to see some action. They certainly got that.

Initially it manifested itself as a lot of scratching around by the Warwickshire upper order, then later it turned into a one-man mauling of the Hampshire attack, as the in-form Jonathan Trott cruised to a hundred for the second time in his last three Championship innings.

He dragged Warwickshire from the brink of disaster after Hampshire had threatened to sweep through the Warwickshire innings like wildfire.

A wicked burst of three for seven in 28 balls by the left arm seamer James Tomlinson had left the Midlanders' in all sorts of bother.

Opener Tony Frost was the first to perish in the flames of Tomlinson's hot spell, caught behind one-handed, the first of wicketkeeper Tom Burrows' five victims in the day. Tellingly Warwickshire had failed to add to their overnight total of 30.

Five runs later Warwickshire captain Ian Westwood was snapped up at point, and then came the big one. Ian Bell was just four runs short of reaching a landmark 10,000 runs in his career when he too was caught behind.

Trott's innings was in its infancy at that point, but he gradually took control of the situation, reducing the Hampshire inferno to something akin to glowing embers over the next couple of sessions.

True there was the odd flare-up, Jim Troughton caught behind off Sean Ervine leaving Warwickshire looking wobbly again at 85-4, then Tim Ambrose becoming Burrows' fourth victim off the bowling of Dimitri Mascarenhas.

But finally Trott found more permanent support. Rikki Clarke managed to extinguish still further the Hampshire heat in a 66-run sixth wicket stand with the South Africa-born Trott.

Clarke fell four short of what would have been a deserved half century, but Ant Botha took up the reins and with neither batsman attempting anything rash, the Hampshire hopes were gradually reduced to so much ash.

The innings was slowly and carefully repaired to the point where Warwickshire were finally able to contemplate accumulating batting bonus points - something that had seemed an unrealistic goal after the first hour's play - and by the time they were parted, Botha having reached 40, the seventh wicket stand was worth 112.

Chris Woakes then joined Trott and, either side of a lengthy stoppage for bad light and rain, helped Warwickshire acquire a third, then a fourth, batting point, with Woakes reaching a career best, unbeaten 77.