Day four report by Matt Whiley.
On a fourth day that started with three results still possible, it was Warwickshire who eked out a final day LV= Insurance County Championship victory over Nottinghamshire at Edgbaston.
Having taken four wickets during the morning session, two of them to in-form paceman Luke Fletcher, the visitors set up the pursuit of 309 to win in 74 overs.
With the early stages of the chase having comprised a frenetic combination of frequent boundaries and regular wickets, the Green and Golds’ lower order was left clinging on later in the day, ultimately falling 51 deliveries short in their bid for survival.
Several Notts’ batsmen gave themselves starts, with all of Ben Slater, Ben Duckett, Joe Clarke and Tom Moores reaching 20, but none were able to press on as Warwickshire claimed the required ten wickets to prevail.
The Bears had resumed on 201-6 in their second innings, and Notts’ quest to polish off the tail got up and running when the resistance of Michael Burgess (80) was ended by Liam Patterson-White with the score on 237.
A direct hit from Slater at point then ran out Craig Miles, before Fletcher bowled both Danny Briggs (50) and Liam Norwell to wrap up the innings for 264 shortly after midday.
A bright start to the run chase was dampened by the loss of Haseeb Hameed, caught behind for two, but by lunch, Slater and Duckett had manoeuvred Notts to 34-1 in eight overs.
However, with Duckett’s dismissal, caught by Rob Yates at midwicket off Briggs, the Bears sensed an opening and began to claim regular scalps; most notably the dismissal of Clarke (20) to Burgess’s swift legside stumping off opening bowler Oliver Hannon-Dalby.
Lyndon James put up a solid fight, soaking up 108 balls for his 19, as did Moores, who flailed Danny Briggs for four handsome off side boundaries on his way to 21, as the pair reached tea with the score on 123-5.
However, when the Nottinghamshire number seven was bowled shouldering arms to Will Rhodes shortly after the resumption, the task became immensely more difficult, even as Zak Chappell also refused to be moved for an obdurate 34-ball stay before he was caught at bat-pad by Sam Hain.
Despite Patterson-White standing firm for 61 deliveries before an unlucky dismissal in which a delivery from Miles rolled via his thigh pad onto the stumps, Briggs inflicted the final blow when he bowled Fletcher for 1; the former Sussex left-arm spinner finishing with second innings figures of 4-36.
Thus, with 8.3 overs remaining, four days of hard-fought cricket came to an end – and, sadly, so too did Nottinghamshire’s three game winning run.
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