Shaun Udal is confident of making a full recovery after X-rays revealed he did not suffer a broken ankle during the dramatic championship win against Surrey.
Udal had to be stretchered from the field when, having taken 4-138, he collapsed as he prepared to bowl during the last hour of play at the Brit
Oval.
Hampshire went on to win by 35 runs and received more good news when the X-ray results revealed that Udal did not suffer a fracture to his right
ankle.
Udal said: "I was fielding off my own bowling and went over on it, I heard a noise and feared the worst.
"But the X-ray results were good and the silver lining is that next two home games are at the Rose Bowl, which favours the seamers."
Physio Andrew Nealon said: "There's no obvious bone injury but we're waiting on the results of a scan.
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"We're going to be assessing Shaun's ability to take weight on the ankle in the next day or two."
When Udal was carried off, Azhar Mahmood (69) and Ian Salisbury (103) were in the middle of their 177- run partnership - a Surrey record for the eighth wicket against Hampshire - and were eyeing a remarkable victory.
If Surrey had reached the 503 they needed to win, it would have been the biggest successful chase in the history of the county championship.
And they looked set to achieve it when Udal was carried off, with Surrey needing only 56 from the last 12 overs.
Udal admitted: "At that stage it was touch and go, they only needed five an over and Mahmood and Salisbury played really well as a pair.
"They waited until me and Warney were tired to make their assault, but thankfully Tomo was our hero. I was in the first aid room waiting for the ambulance when I heard the result - it brought me back to normality."
Surrey needed just 43 to win when James Tomlinson broke the partnership with a stunning return catch at the third attempt to dismiss Mahmood.
Then Warne beat Salisbury in the flight to have his fellow leg spinner stumped before Tomlinson knocked back Mohammad Akram's leg stump.
Captain Warne had been fielding at cover when Udal collapsed in agony, and paid tribute to Udal's efforts with the ball after the win.
He said: "I was walking in and could hear something but didn't know whether his legs had clicked together or what had happened.
"As soon as I saw him grab his ankle I thought 'Oh no'. It's such a shame because he bowled beautifully and helped us win the game, he was magnificent."
Udal had broken the 129-run partnership between Mark Butcher and Jon Batty, dismissing both during the afternoon session before adding the wicket of Rikki Clarke.
Warne added: "The way he bowled on Saturday was one of the best performances I've ever seen from a pure off spinner.
"He was always looking for wickets and bowled a good line outside off stump.
He had a plan that we'd spoken about and he executed it perfectly. I haven't seen him bowl better."
Warne finished with 3-128 after bowling 44 overs.
He said: "I was pretty tired and went for about 40 runs I shouldn't have gone for. We showed a lot of intensity over the four days and then got a bit complacent - but all credit to Surrey.
"We had about four or five half chances against Salisbury and Mahmood with stumpings and bat-pads.
"But it wasn't going our way and I thought it was going to be one of those days but we were patient."
Warne was also delighted with the performances of opening batsman Michael Brown, who made an unbeaten 115 in Hampshire's second innings, and left-arm quick Tomlinson for excellent spells at crucial stages in both Surrey innings.
"To win the championship is going to need a squad effort and Michael Brown grabbed his chance, he batted superbly, and Tomo bowled really well."
Dimitri Mascarenhas suffered a knee injury on Saturday so is likely to miss the championship game against Yorkshire this week, but Sean Ervine could be available to play his first game of the season on Wednesday after recovering from a shin injury.
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