Before the start of the season, Shane Warne tipped Chris Tremlett for big things this year.

"Chris Tremlett is one guy I expect to come through. It is time to stamp his authority on the county game, push to get on the Ashes trip and become an England opening bowler," said Hampshire's captain.

"If he stays clear of injuries he should be looking to take 70 wickets and win three or four games off his own back."

Tremlett will have to go some to match that, but at The Rose Bowl yesterday he took 3-51, taking his wickets tally for the season to seven after a month out with a side injury.

The 25-year-old bowled quickly, while showing off his new crew cut.

If Tremlett produces the form he showed in the first half of last season during what is left of this summer, Hampshire will have, at the very least, gone close to winning a first championship title since 1973.

His first day of first class cricket since the win against Warwickshire at Edgbaston was something of a curate's egg for Hampshire.

After reducing Durham to 163-9, they will have hoped to have denied the visitors a first batting point by dismissing them for under 200.

But a last-wicket partnership of 71 in 16 overs between Graham Onions and Callum Thorp swelled the visitors' first innings total to 234.

Hampshire's seamers did all the damage on a rare day to forget for Warne, who was clubbed for FOUR leg-side sixes, three by Thorp and one by Onions, as he bowled from the Northern End.

Durham's last pair took a liking to the short boundary on the western side of the square as Warne went for 56 runs from 11 overs.

When an appeal was turned down amongst the carnage, Warne was so riled he flung the ball for four overthrows when it was intended to reach Nic Pothas.

One six off Warne, Thorp's third, even drew blood when it struck an elderly spectator on the head.

Warne responded with an attempted bouncer but 31-year-old Thorp continued the innings of his life by pulling it for one of his eight fours.

What made Thorp's innings even more galling for Warne was the fact that he is a fellow Australian with a single-figure career average and a previous highest score of just 26 (for Western Australia three years ago).

Onions also frustrated Hampshire, to the point where he was bombarded by a succession of short deliveries from Sean Ervine.

He was still unbeaten on 15 at the end, with Thorp eventually out for an 85-ball 75, caught by Warne at second slip to become Tremlett's third victim.

This was not quite Tremlett's best return of the season he took 3-50 in the second innings at Edgbaston but Dimitri Mascarenhas was the man who made the early inroads.

A first spell of 3-13 from nine overs included three of Durham's top four, while Jon Lewis crawled to 10 from 69 balls.

Durham were 100-6 at lunch, but their poor start was due as much to some injudicious strokes, most notably an attempted hook that cost Phil Mustard his wicket in the first over of Tremlett's second spell, and good bowling as it was to the wicket.

All of Durham's batsmen departed to catches from Nic Pothas and the first two slip fielders, Jimmy Adams and Warne, with the exception of Ottis Gibson, who made two from 26 balls before slicing Tremlett to backward point.

Gareth Breese (44 from 66 balls) departed to the catch of the day, another athletic one-handed take for Pothas, as Durham were bowled out for 234, before Hampshire closed on 123-3.

Michael Carberry and Adams were out in successive overs after putting on 59 for the first wicket, and Dominic Thornely was also dismissed in the 20s.

But Hampshire will be confident of a third successive championship win after day one.