DAY TWO Hampshire are 480-8 after losing the toss

It used to be Saints that performed the Great Escape, but Hampshire are producing a brave first-division survival bid of their own.

Two months ago, Hampshire looked doomed.

After a demoralising defeat against arch-rivals Sussex at Arundel, they were four points behind Surrey and 13 adrift of safety at the foot of the LV County Championship’s top flight.

But they are unbeaten in five matches and should stay up after amassing 480-8 against Surrey, who are now firmly rooted to the bottom of the table, at the Brit Oval.

For the first time this season, Hampshire have maximum batting points after an excellent second day, which they began on 116-2.

It did not start well.

Chris Benham (29) lost his off stump shouldering arms to Jade Dernbach and Sean Ervine (6) chopped on an attempted square cut against the same bowler in the sixth over of the morning.

But that was as good as it got for Surrey.

Nic Pothas shared in stands of 89 with Michael Lumb and 72 with Liam Dawson before putting on a record 165 in just 30 overs with Dimi Mascarenhas during his magnificent unbeaten 137.

There was controversy when Lumb (72) was caught low down by first-slip Scott Newman after edging a defensive prod against Saqlian Mushtaq in the ninth over after lunch.

Lumb, clearly unimpressed, lingered at the crease after Neil Mallender gave him out following a chat with square-leg umpire Nigel Llong.

But Dawson showed no nerves against the pace of Shoaib Akhtar and hit a career-best 38 (59 balls) before he was brilliantly caught at fine-leg by the Pakistani.

Still only 18, Dawson drove the ball beautifully and tucked into the short stuff with relish but another pull, against Alex Tudor, finally proved his undoing.

No matter.

Pothas and Mascarenhas capitalised on an abysmal final session from the Surrey bowlers.

They broke their own three-year-old seventh-wicket record against Surrey, also at the Brit Oval, by scoring at nearly a run-a-ball for just under two hours.

Mascarenhas reached fifty from just 53 balls and reminded the England selectors why he is such a useful Twenty20 cricketer by capitalising on Dernbach’s appalling post-tea spell (4-0-35-0) before he was cruelly denied his first hundred for more than two years.

The Hampshire captain top edged a paddle sweep against young off-spinner Matt Spriegel to become Jon Batty's 500th Surrey victim, for a 114-ball 99.

Pothas was on 130 when he was dropped for the only time, by Tudor at wide mid-on, off the next ball.

He faced 238 balls and hit 19 fours during his second Championship hundred of the season - his 15th for Hampshire.

Pothas frustrated Shoaib Akhtar out of the Surrey attack with typical intransigence.

During the afternoon session, he twice hit the Pakistani for successive fours.

After two square cuts left Surrey’s overseas signing staring despairingly at the backward-point boundary, Shoaib was officially warned for bowling a beamer when an attempted slower ball against Pothas came out too early.

Pothas then drove Shoaib out of the attack - to extra cover and straight back down the ground – to complete an expensive second spell (4-0-22-0) for the Pakistani.

It was more than three hours later that Shoaib eventually returned to the attack.

He was not used at all while Pothas and Mascarenhas were together but soon came on – off a shortened run up to speed up Surrey’s desperately slow over rate – when Spriegel dismissed Chris Tremlett first ball.

Imran Tahir then frustrated his compatriot further with a 20-ball 22* that took Hampshire to their biggest total since the corresponding fixture at the beginning of last season.

Surrey bowling: Shoaib 19-3-54-1, Dernbach 20-2-95-2, Collins 25-6-78-0, Tudor 24-4-90-2, Saqlain 28-4-86-1, Benning 3-0-11-0, Afzaal 11-2-21-0, Spriegel 5-0-28-2