County Championship: Rob Yates finds best Bears form on rain-hit day in Birmingham

Dom Sibley and Rob Yates have opened the batting together in only four of Warwickshire's 14 Championship matches this season

Warwickshire opener Rob Yates put a season of poor red-ball form behind him as the relegation-threatened Bears reached 138-2 on a truncated, rain-hit day against Hampshire in Birmingham.

Yates hit 77 not out, his best County Championship score of the season, to dominate a 129-run opening stand with England's Dom Sibley (54).

Hampshire, minus the injured Kyle Abbott, won the toss and opted to bowl.

But they took only two wickets, in successive balls from Ian Holland.

It was almost halfway through the scheduled day that play got underway after a lost morning session - but they squeezed in 41 overs before bad light forced an early halt, with 15 left in the day.

The Bears began the game 14 points behind Kent and 15 behind Yorkshire - and with only a possible 24 points to play for - bidding to avoid becoming the fifth side to be relegated just a year after winning the County Championship.

• Relive the first day's Championship action as it happened

But, while first and foremost they must win, and Yorkshire and Kent must both lose, they also need bonus points. And, although Hampshire were missing injured 58-wicket spearhead Abbott, who was nursing a swollen knee, Yates and Sibley gave the hosts a good start.

Their 129 in 38 overs was Warwickshire's best opening stand of a run-starved summer - and they looked capable of batting through the day until Sibley, in his last game before rejoining Surrey, nibbled at one down the leg side from Holland, allowing keeper Nye Donald to take a comfortable catch.

Holland then struck again next ball when Alex Davies offered no shot to a ball which clipped the off bail.

Sam Hain played the hat-trick ball to midwicket, but within two overs, although the Edgbaston floodlights were on, the players came off for bad light.

The Bears are without both their late-season India international recruits, Mohammed Siraj and Jayant Yadav, who had signed up for their final three Championship games.

Siraj played in only the first of them, having returned to India last week for personal reasons, while Yadav has now been called up to the Rest of India squad.

But although without England pair Chris Woakes and Notts-bound Olly Stone on international duty in Pakistan, paceman Craig Miles (hamstring) and keeper Michael Burgess (unavailable), they did have last summer's top wicket-taker Liam Norwell fit to return to duty.

Warwickshire opener Rob Yates told BBC CWR:

"I felt quite good out there and it was nice to spend some time out in the middle and feel like myself again and bat the way I like to bat.

"This has been a difficult season for me and that has been down to a combination of factors. Hopefully I will prove to be a huge learning point and I will learn from it to become a better player for the future.

"It was a classic Edgbaston pitch. It did a bit early on and was a little bit tacky at the start with a bit of nip but it played nicely and came on to the bat nicely. When the lacquer comes off the ball it becomes a little bit more steady.

"We all know what we need to do in this game to stand a chance of staying up and there is no bigger incentive. The guys are quite relaxed, which is good because that's when you play your best cricket."

Hampshire fast bowler Ian Holland:

"It was good to get out there on the field after a lot of waiting around. We were hoping for a few more wickets than that.

"I was pleased to get two in two. I had a bit of luck with getting Sibbers but it was just nice to get on the cut strip and give myself a chance, so to pick a couple off was nice.

"There was a bit of help with the new ball and we beat the bat a few times without getting our rewards. The boundaries have been brought in a little bit and are quite small so it will be interesting to see what happens.

"If there's overheads there is always a chance to swing the ball and nick a few off but it does seem like a pretty true wicket."