Report: Warwickshire v Derbyshire, LV= Insurance County Championship

Day Four

Warwickshire and Derbyshire had to settle for an LV= Insurance County Championship draw at Edgbaston after a potentially intriguing run chase in the final session was scuppered by yet more bad weather. 

Facing a victory target of 213 in 41 overs in the last session, the home side was just 25 balls into their pursuit when snow began to fall. It was a relatively brief flurry, but another followed to end a contest which had been plagued by wintry weather on each of its four days. 

For Derbyshire, a draw was due reward for their dogged resistance on a final day which they began in serious jeopardy at 71 for five, just 39 ahead. Sixth-wicket pair Matt Critchley (83, 158 balls, 11 fours) and Harvey Hosein (78 not out, 145 balls, 11 fours) dug in to add 113 in 36 overs and others then chipped in so that the visitors were finally all out for 244 just before tea. 

As the sun at last came out on the final morning, and batting conditions eased, Warwickshire were held up by Critchley, who batted impressively for the second time in the match, and 24-year-old Hosein. Their alliance was finally broken in mid-afternoon by Liam Norwell who jagged one back in sharply to Critchley to win an lbw appeal. 

The obdurate Hosein received further support from Fynn Hudson-Prentice (21, 28 balls) in a stand of 35 before the latter edged Will Rhodes to wicketkeeper Michael Burgess.  

Michael Cohen and Ben Aitchison then contributed only three runs apiece but each ate up nearly 20 valuable minutes as Derbyshire battled hard to inch towards safety. Craig Miles removed them both, thanks to catches by Sam Hain at second slip and short leg respectively, before Sam Conners edged Norwell behind. 

Oliver Hannon-Dalby ended with five for 76, his eighth haul of five-or-more wickets in a first class innings, having not added to the wickets he took on the third day. 

Warwickshire were left needing 213 in a session, a testing equation in a game in which runs have never come freely. They began in measured fashion, reaching seven without loss from 4.1 overs, but then the bad weather, which haunted this match throughout, returned to have the final say. 

Day Three

A five-wicket haul from Olly Hannon-Dalby put Warwickshire into a strong position against Derbyshire on a heavily rain-affected third day of their LV= Insurance County Championship match at Edgbaston. 

Trailing by 32 on first innings, Derbyshire were 71 for five in their second, Hannon-Dalby having taken five for 29,  when bad light and rain arrived to wipe out the last 62 overs of the day.  

After the Bears, replying to 189,  were bowled out for 221 in the morning, Hannon-Dalby started explosively, taking wickets with the second, fifth and sixth balls of his second over.  

Derbyshire were in deep trouble but then the weather intervened yet again and, in conditions still favourable to the seamers, all results remain possible going into tomorrow’s final day. 

Warwickshire resumed their first innings this morning on 169 for five and soon lost Tim Bresnan (35, 66 balls, seven fours), bowled by a full-length ball from Luis Reece, to end a valuable partnership of 68 in 21 overs with Matt Lamb. 

Lamb reached an excellent half-century in difficult conditions from 105 balls with the boundary that took the Bears in front, but then fell for 54 (113 balls, nine fours) when he edged Critchley to slip. 

Craig Miles (14, 41 balls) lifted Michael Cohen to point and then Liam Norwell and Danny Briggs fell lbw to Critchley and Briggs respectively. 

Derbyshire’s second innings was soon damaged by Hannon-Dalby when Luis Reece edged to slip and Anuj Dal and Leus de Plooy were nailed lbw with successive balls in a brilliant over from the Yorkshireman. 

He then added the wicket of Billy Godleman, caught by Rob Yates at third slip from the last ball before lunch, to leave Derbyshire 34 for four, just two runs in front. 

Wayne Madsen and Matt Critchley added 37 in ten overs before Hannon-Dalby struck again. Madsen edged an away-swinger and Yates swooped again to maintain the Bears’ exemplary form in the slips in this match. 

Warwickshire sensed that another productive hour could seal victory, but then the poor weather that has plagued this match returned with a vengeance to wash out the last two thirds of the day’s play. 

Day Two

Derbyshire’s bowlers hit back on the second day of the LV=Insurance County Championship match at Edgbaston as Warwickshire reached 169 for five in reply to the visitors’ 189. 

Batting was difficult throughout a heavily weather-affected day as the ball seamed around under thick cloud and a young  Derbyshire attack, led by the impressive Ben Aitcheson (two for 31) and Sam Conners (two for 40), maintained the pressure. 

Rob Yates (40, 63 balls, eight fours) batted fluently  but the rest had to battle, and sixth-wicket pair Matt Lamb (41 not out, 82 balls, eight fours) and Tim Bresnan (27 not out, 49 balls, five fours) did so effectively to add an unbroken 55 before bad light lopped of the last 20 overs.  

The Bears resumed on the second morning on 13 for one and advanced to 38 for one in 35 minutes play before the first rain interruption triggered an early lunch.  

Yates was in excellent nick but became the first of four batsmen to fall to fatal edges in the afternoon session as the ball wobbled about. He edged Fynn Hudson-Prentice to second slip where Wayne Madsen took a fine catch and Aitchison then struck in his first over when Sam Hain (14, 25 balls) edged and again Madsen made no mistake. 

Conners unfurled a perfectly shaped off-cutter which Dom Sibley (29, 100 balls, four fours) feathered to wicketkeeper Harvey Hosein. As the scoring dried up, at one stage four runs came from 45 balls during which a sequence of 28 dot balls culminated in Michael Burgess edging Aitchesen to the keeper. 

That left Warwickshire wobbling at 114 for five, still 75 behind, but Lamb and Bresnan dug in deep. There was plenty of playing and missing but the pair concentrated hard and Derbyshire were left to rue the reprieve they gave to Lamb when, on 26, he edged the fourth ball after tea, from Hudson-Prentice, to slip but the chance went down. 

Day One

Fiery fast bowling from Liam Norwell powered Warwickshire into the ascendancy in their LV= Insurance County Championship opener at Edgbaston as Derbyshire were dismissed for 189. 

Norwell launched the season in the most spectacular style with two wickets in his first over and bowled with sustained hostility to go and finish with figures of 18-7-32-5. 

Luis Reece (63, 144 balls, ten fours) and Matt Critchley (64, 97 balls, 11 fours) offered some defiance but the Bears have emphatically seized the initiative on a good batting pitch. Warwickshire closed the day on 13/1, trailing by 176 runs with Will Rhodes (0) the man out.

After captain Rhodes chose to field, Norwell struck with his second and fifth balls, inducing a nick from Billy Godleman to wicketkeeper Michael Burgess and then uprooting Anuj Dal’s off-stump. When Leus de Ploy played on to Olly Hannon-Dalby, Derbyshire were reeling at seven for three from nine overs.  

Reece and Wayne Madsen retrenched with a stand of 43 in 18 overs before Hannon-Dalby returned to strike first ball back. Madsen edged and Rob Yates took a fine catch, two-handed, diving far to his right at third slip. 

After lunch, Reece and Critchley took their stand to 93 in 22 overs before Norwell struck twice more to remove both half-centurions with superb assistance from the slips. Reece edged to Sam Hain at second and Critchley was superbly clutched by Tim Bresnan at first. Harvey Hosein also edged to Hain. 

Rhodes then brought himself on just before tea and struck first ball which Fynn Hudson-Prentice slashed to Danny Briggs at gully. 

Craig Miles claimed his first wicket of the season when he removed Michal Cohen shortly after tea. The final wicket frustrated the Bears by adding 21 runs, before Briggs ended the innings and in the process secured his first scalp for the Club.

Earlier in the day, it was announced that following the news that the arrival of overseas signing Pieter Malan has been delayed due to visa issues, the Bears have signed India Test batsman Hanuma Vihari as a replacement for the early rounds of the LV= Insurance County Championship. 

Please note that Warwickshire’s LV= Insurance County Championship match with Derbyshire (8-11 April) will be played behind closed doors due to the latest Government guidelines.