County Championship: Hampshire held up by rain against Yorkshire

Umpires Peter Hartley and Tim Robinson abandoned play at 14:30 BST

Hampshire's chances of a victory over Yorkshire to boost their hopes of avoiding relegation faded in bad weather on day three at the Ageas Bowl.

The newly crowned champions resumed on 82-4, 318 runs in arrears after Hampshire's 400-9 declared.

Only 7.4 overs were bowled, however, before the teams left the field for bad light and rain later arrived to end play for the day.

Yorkshire opener Alex Lees was 37 not out, with partner Tim Bresnan on 12.

Unless Hampshire can bowl the White Rose county out cheaply on the final day, they will have to settle for a draw, which will probably ensure they go into next week's final game away at Nottinghamshire in one of the Division One relegation places.

However, if they can pick up maximum bowling points, they could slightly close the 11-point gap on Sussex and Somerset, whose game at Hove was also rain-affected on the third day.