Report: Warwickshire v Nottinghamshire, Rothesay County Championship

Day Four

A dogged partnership between Ed Barnard and Olly Hannon-Dalby secured a draw after rain took out much of the final day in this Rothesay County Championship Division One match at Edgbaston.

Warwickshire, trailing by 274 on first innings, entered the final day on 163 for six second time around, with the visitors four wickets away from the winning line. But rain prevented play until 3.45pm, leaving Nottinghamshire’s bowlers just 36 overs at their disposal on a flattening pitch.

Overnight pair Ed Barnard (40 not out, 149 balls) and Olly Hannon-Dalby (seven not out, 62 balls) blocked their way to safety as Warwickshire ended on 181 for six.

Warwickshire ended with much relief at a draw. Nottinghamshire’s frustration, after seizing control with some brilliant bowling on the second day, was deep, though they did not help themselves with pedestrian batting on the third morning. With heavy rain always likely on day four, there was a clear case for pressing home their advantage in more proactive fashion and trying to force victory before the final day.

Nottinghamshire’s gamble on the weather allowing them sufficient time did not succeed as Barnard and Hannon-Dalby ‘parked the bus’. After play finally resumed, just three runs came from the first 14 overs.

The seventh-wicket pair survived 20 overs with few alarms when Nottinghamshire had their last throw of the dice – a new ball with 16 overs remaining. By that stage, however, the dark clouds had rolled back in and the floodlights were on and only four balls were possible with the new ball before the umpires took the players off for bad light, never to return.

Warwickshire were left mightily relieved to have drawn a match in which they were second best.

Olly Hannon-Dalby said: “We were praying for rain all day really but when it cleared up we had to get out there with an obvious job that we just had to bat time. It was really nice to be out there with Ed Barnard who is a very cool, calm and collected character and it was nice that we could bat out the day.

“First Division cricket is incredibly tough with some great teams. No-one rolls over and we are glad that we have not rolled over. However we are aware that we have been outplayed here. With bat and ball, Notts have been better than us. Credit to them, they batted really well and bowled really well. 

“We’ve got stuff to work on and now we have week off before we go up to Headingley against Yorkshire but we are glad that we have scrapped it out and got a draw. We are undefeated in this first little period of three games which is great. 

“It’s a bit of a new look side with some young guys and they have shown what they can do, notably Michael Booth who is a top human being, a lovely lad and it’s great to see the hard work he’s put in over the last few years coming to fruition. He is doing very well and I’m delighted for him.”

Day Three

Michael Booth claimed a first career five-fer as Bears kept battling against Nottinghamshire who need to find four more wickets on what’s set to be a rain affected final day at Edgbaston.

Trailing by 274 on first innings, Warwickshire closed the third day on 163 for six, in deep trouble but still alive and with a potential lifeline in the form of predicted heavy rain.  

Notts’ decision to bat quite deep into day three despite the dodgy forecast could cost them. They extended their first innings to 367, Haseeb Hameed carrying his bat for 138 in 399 minutes, supported by Fergus O’Neill (50, 53 balls) and Lyndon James (42, 117).

But after the visitors’ dynamic cricket on the second day, their batting on the third morning was bizarrely ponderous, achieving little more than robbing their bowlers of time to get stuck into Warwickshire’s second innings. When those bowlers were finally unleashed they winkled out six on a pitch which is improving for batting but Nottinghamshire will need help from the great uncontrollable – the weather – tomorrow.

Nottinghamshire resumed on the third morning on 204 for five, already 111 ahead, but showed no urgency. Hameed and James added a pedestrian 51 in 21 overs before the latter edged Ed Barnard to slip.

Hameed reached his 16^th first class century, from 196 balls, while O’Neill added some impetus by adding a half-century to his five-for the previous day. The Australian’s ninth four, driven through the covers off Booth, took him to 50 but he perished next ball when he skied a slog.

Booth advanced to his five-fer with wickets in successive balls when he bowled Brett Hutton through a cross-bat swipe and had Josh Tongue caught behind. When Farhan Ahmed nicked Barnard to the keeper, Hameed had carried his bat for the second time in his Nottinghamshire career and become the third player, following Mick Newell and Alex Hales, to do so for the county against Warwickshire.

Warwickshire’s rearguard action started badly when Alex Davies edged Hutton to third slip in the fifth over. Rob Yates and Hamza Shaikh grafted to add 34 in 13 overs before Tongue struck just before and after tea. Wicketkeeper Kyle Berreynne took the catches as Yates leg-glanced too fine and Sam Hain fenced outside off stump.

Shaikh defied for nearly two hours for 27 but fell lbw when hit on the back leg by O’Neill. Dan Mousley dug in similarly for 32 then became the first victim of spin in the match when trapped lbw by Farhan Ahmed. 

With nine balls left in the day, Kai Smith was bowled by a beauty from O’Neill. Warwickshire will enter the final day needing either a monumental lower-order batting display…or lots of rain.

Michael Booth said: “It was nice to take my maiden five-for. I felt good out there. It felt like some of my better spells went wicketless but then I came back late on and got those three at the end. I have felt in good rhythm all game and it is coming out nicely.

“The more you play the more you understand how to go about it and that sometimes you only get your rewards in your third and fourth spells. That’s something I’ve learned, not to go to searching for wickets too much but to keep putting the ball in the right area and eventually to get your rewards.

“Notts have outplayed us so it’s a big day for us tomorrow to hopefully hang in there as long as we can and hopefully get past them and keep going. We have just got to keep scrapping, keep batting and keep believing. The weather forecast doesn’t look good but you can never really trust a forecast. We have just got to come here tomorrow and bat long.”

Day Two

Warwickshire’s seamers fought back hard in an engaging evening after the batting faltered on the second day of their Rothesay County Championship match at Edgbaston.

Top-drawer seam bowling by Fergus O’Neill and Brett Hutton put Nottinghamshire in command against Warwickshire.

Aussie import O’Neill took five for 19 and Hutton five for 38 as the home side fell to 93 all out. Only Sam Hain (43, 81 balls) offered sustained resistance as the visitors made up for time lost on the first day when just 56 balls were bowled.

Nottinghamshire then advanced to 204 for five by the close of the second day with captain Haseeb Hameed carrying his team’s reply with an unbeaten 75 (136 balls). When they passed Warwickshire’s total for the loss of just one wicket, a mighty lead beckoned, but the home bowlers struck back with four wickets in the last session.

Warwickshire resumed on 34 for two, then scored 58 for five in 24.2 overs before lunch against an attack that applied relentless pressure. Overnight pair Hamza Shaikh (22, 60 balls) and Hain took the score to 60, but five wickets then fell for 31 runs in 13.5 overs.

Shaikh left a gap between bat and pad, and Hutton found it to bowl him. Dan Mousley did the same, and O’Neill powered an in-ducker onto off-stump. When Ed Barnard drove hard at the Aussie, Freddie McCann held a screamer at second slip.

Hain, a habitual plunderer of Nottinghamshire with an average of 59.7 against them across the formats, batted with as much assurance as possible in tough conditions but then copped a ferocious in-ducker from O’Neill and fell lbw. After another rapid delivery ripped out Michael Booth’s off-stump, O’Neill lunched on 12.4-4-19-4.

From 92 for seven at lunch, Warwickshire declined to 93 all out as both bowlers completed five-fors. O’Neill’s came when Ethan Bamber edged behind. Hutton’s followed with wickets in successive balls as Kai Smith skied a slog looking for quick runs, and Vishwa Fernando missed a straight one.  

Lady Luck then shone on Nottinghamshire as their reply began in the game’s first two hours of sunshine. Hameed and Ben Slater (40, 40 balls) took advantage to raise 50 in 67 balls and 81 in 87 before Slater was lbw to Bamber on the stroke of tea.   

In the last session, the Bears’ bowlers struck sporadically. McCann nicked Fernando behind, Joe Clarke edged Booth to third slip, and Josh Haynes fell lbw to Olly Hannon-Dalby, providing the Yorkshireman’s 332^nd wicket in his 100th first-class match for the Bears.

Kyle Verreynne contributed a punchy 29 (44) before top-edging a pull at Booth to deep square leg, but Hameed’s concentration was total and his true captain’s innings kept his side on top.

Ian Westwood said: “They bowled with a lot of skill and discipline and utilised the good bowling conditions really well. We just couldn’t get a partnership together. 

“We had tough conditions to bat in but the conditions are no excuse, we have been outskilled with the ball. Then our batting display was compounded by those first 15 overs with the ball when we probably tried a little bit too hard to make inroads and leaked runs at five or six an over which you can’t do.

“We have shown a lot of fight and the lads stuck at it really well in the session and tried to drag it back but we have got a lot to do. We haven’t been at our best today and are behind in the game but a couple of quick wickets in the morning and we are right back in it.”

Day One

Nottinghamshire struck two early blows against Warwickshire before rain wiped out the bulk of the opening day of their Rothesay County Championship Division One match at Edgbaston.

Play started on time, but just 9.2 overs were possible before the rain arrived with the home side on 34 for two, having been put in.

Having chosen to bowl, Nottinghamshire removed both opening batters in the first five overs. Rob Yates fell to the second ball of the match, and Alex Davies to the 27^th. Brett Hutton inflicted the damage with similar deliveries, rapid in-duckers which trapped the batter half-forward to win an lbw decision.

Hamza Shaikh and Sam Hain, the latter looking in excellent nick, avoided further mishap before the rain arrived. It was a frustrating day for both teams, who are keen to build on the momentum of a strong start to the season, each having secured a win and a draw from their first two games.

Both have made one change to their team. Olly Hannon-Dalby, having recovered from a quad injury, returns in place of Tazeem Ali for Warwickshire. Nottinghamshire’s switch is in the pace attack, where Josh Tongue replaces the injured Dillon Pennington. 

Ian Westwood said: “It has been frustrating. It hasn’t rained hard but drizzle has kept us off for the majority of the day. We would have bowled first if we had won the toss bearing in mind the bit of green in the pitch and with the overheads that are normally quite important here.

“We are pleased to have Olly Hannon-Dalby back in the team. It is a purely tactical change with the conditions in useind because Tazeem Ali did brilliantly for us in the first two games and will definitely have a big part to play for us this season. Conditions in this game, with rain around, are far from ideal for a young leg-spin bowler in April in England, but Taz has shown what quality he brings and we will definitely be utilising him throughout the season.

“It’s great to have Olly back and also good that with a five-man seam attack, we will be able to look after him a little bit more. We all look forward to seeing him perform out there again because he’s been phenomenal for us over the last few years.”