THERE is nothing Shane Warne would like more than to fly out to Zimbabwe with a Hampshire captaincy record of played six, won six.

But Derbyshire were determined to thwart Hampshire's hopes of a third successive county championship victory when the final day's play began today.

Warne is playing Test cricket for Australia in Zimbabwe for the next month, during which time he misses the championship matches against Yorkshire, which begins at Headingley on Wednesday, and Nottinghamshire, who visit the Rose Bowl at the beginning of June.

He will also miss the Totesport league games away to Lancashire Lightning (May 16) and Gloucestershire Gladiators (May 23).

More significantly, he will be absent when Hampshire return to Bristol, the city where he first played club cricket in 1991, in the C&G Trophy third round tie against holders Gloucestershire on May 29.

The good news is that Shane Watson will be available to fill in for Warne for all three of those one-day games before he goes to Zimbabwe with Michael Clarke to meet up with Australia's one-day squad on May 31.

Watson, however, is not around for the biggest test of Hampshire's season so far, away to Yorkshire in the championship this week, so there was plenty of incentive for ensuring that Derbyshire return to the East Midlands on the back of a defeat and not a fourth draw in as many games.

Hampshire's task was made tougher when Mohammed Ali pulled Alan Mullally for six to take Derbyshire past the 269 needed to avoid the follow on in the penultimate over of the day.

But the day had had begun positively when Nic Pothas drove Graeme Welch to the boundary to bring up 400 and maximum batting points from the first ball.

Pothas had scored his third Hampshire hundred on a rain affected second day and was unbeaten on a 174-ball 131, which included 14 fours and a pulled six, when Warne declared, immediately after Chris Tremlett had been caught behind.

And it looked as though Hampshire would make quicker work of Derbyshire when Dimitri Mascarenhas plucked out Andrew Gait's leg stump with his first ball - and with the help of some late inswing.

But Chris Rogers, in his first season of county cricket, provided some sterling resistance in scoring 87 from 127 balls.

He needed just 56 deliveries for his fifty and a stubborn partnership of 54 for the second wicket with Steve Stubbings and Rogers was a swift reminder to Hampshire they would have to bowl well to beat a team that had drawn all three of its championship matches before this game.

Stubbings was eventually given out just before lunch, caught by Michael Brown at short leg after being adjudged to have bat-padded Warne, a decision the left-hander was clearly unhappy with.

And Hasan Adnan departed within five overs for a 12-ball duck after pushing half forward at a Tremlett delivery that kept a little low.

Jonothon Moss, Warne's fellow Victorian, did not last much longer. But after he was caught at first slip Chris Bassano, who made his first championship fifty for a year, put on 49 in 20 overs with Rogers.

Rogers became Shaun Udal's 600th first class victim when he played too early and was caught and bowled.

Warne held on to a low catch at second slip to remove skipper Luke Sutton, and the medium pace of Prittipaul accounted for Bassano, who edged an attempted cover drive in the part-time bowler's second over.

Bassano had offered a leg-side catch to Pothas when on 42.

But Pothas held on to a regulation catch late on to hand Mullally his first wicket before Ali smashed the left-armer over square leg to ensure Hampshire would have to bat again.