You have to go back more than ten months for Hampshire's last championship win.

That was 11 games ago, a four-wicket victory against Somerset that came within days of the mid-August sacking of Jimmy Cook.

Relegation soon followed and it is just as well for Hampshire that there is no third division. Their promotion hopes are now in tatters, with nothing less than a win needed against Northamptonshire tomorrow to keep their championship season alive.

Once again rain curtailed much of the play yesterday but that was just as well from Hampshire's point of view - they were hanging on at 161-7 at stumps.

It was rain that prevented Gloucestershire from beating Hampshire at Bristol last month so it was a case of deja vu at the Rose Bowl yesterday.

The entire morning session was washed out but Gloucestershire quickly made up for lost time. Thirty-two overs were lost to the weather but when play began at 1.40pm the last wicket pair of Jonty Rhodes and Jon Lewis added 45 runs from just 43 balls after resuming on 382-9.

The biggest surprise was that Lewis smashed 26 of them of just 24 balls before he was caught by a back-peddling Nic Pothas after mistiming a heave against the bowling of Wasim Akram.

Jonty Rhodes had time to reach the 150 mark by pulling Wasim to the fence and he finished unbeaten on 151 - 21 runs short of his career best.

It helped Gloucestershire set Hampshire a target of 283 runs in 55 overs which, on a deteriorating wicket, was always going to be too much.

When John Crawley lost his off-stump to a ball from Ian Harvey that kept low, Hampshire's best hope was always going to be a losing draw.

That should never have been the case after establishing a first innings lead of 145 but when the Hampshire players watched Crawley lose his wicket to a grubber, they would have doubted their chances of avoiding defeat.

Crawley stood his ground in disbelief before finally departing and when Derek Kenway joined him in the dressing room eight overs later Gloucestershire harboured realistic hopes of ending a run of two successive championship defeats with a win.

Kenway was caught at short extra cover and Robin Smith was trapped leg before by Martyn Ball, having hit three successive fours - two leg glances and a square cut - in Alex Gidman's only over.

That left Hampshire 70-3 at tea.

Will Kendall pulled Harvey to square leg and after passing 50 with two successive leg-side boundaries off Harvey, Katich was undone by an unplayable delivery from his compatriot.

Harvey took the wicket of his Australia A captain with a ball that flew through at chest height, finding the outside edge of Katich's bat on its way through to Stephen Pope.

That was the fourth and final wicket of Harvey's haul of 4-43

At that point Gloucestershire needed five wickets in 22 overs and when Nic Pothas was out with 19 left, the visitors sensed victory.

Pothas was guilty of a reckless stroke, needlessly swinging the bat at Ball to give Matt Windows a comfortable catch at mid-on.

A stand of 37 in 14 overs between Shaun Udal and Dimitri Mascarenhas ensured that Hampshire hung on for a draw that lifted them above Derbyshire at the bottom of the table.

Mascarenhas prodded Ball to mid-on with five overs left but Wasim Akram helped Udal steer Hampshire to 161-7 at the close.

At least that helped Alan Mullally avoid the ignominy of coming out to bat with a runner.