Warwickshire Bears skittled as they exit one-day cup

Left-arm spinner Dawson registered his best bowling performance in any format and sent an already faltering innings into freefall with three wickets in four balls as Warwickshire folded all out for 93.

Put in, the Bears were soon in trouble as former Edgbaston favourite Keith Barker took three for 28 in his opening burst. Sam Hain (33 not out, 38 balls) could then only watch helplessly from the other end as his colleagues capitulated. Dawson bowled well but was assisted by some sieve-headed shot selection.

Hampshire eased to 95 for one in 19 overs (Fletcha Middleton 54 not out, 65 balls) to book a place in the final on September 16th against Gloucestershire or Leicestershire at Trent Bridge. The visitors celebrated a job done almost to perfection while the big home crowd was left to digest Warwickshire’s latest knockout implosion after commanding a group stage.

Warwickshire coach Mark Robinson said: “We have had done to us what we have done to a few teams this year.

“At times we have won the toss in good bowling conditions and made heavy inroads in a powerplay and got a team out for a low score. This time it’s happened to us and we took some early damage that we couldn’t repair.

We’re all disappointed. Fair play to Dawson, he bowled really well, the ball held in the wicket a tiny bit, but we are better than losing five wickets like that. But it’s cricket and these are the ones you’ve got to take on the chin. You feel a bit embarrassed and a bit ashamed but actually it can happen and the quicker you ditch these ones and move on the better.

“We just needed someone to stay in with Sam Hain. I think 200 would have made it interesting. If we had got to 200 we would have had a sniff and then if we had got to 250 I think it would have been a winning score, but to do that you need partnerships and apart from a brief one between Barny and Sam we never looked like doing that.

“It’s been a good tournament for us and some of the young players have come in and done really well, but it is disappointing because we had a very good opportunity here and didn’t take it.”