Result: Warwickshire (310 & 199; Hain 58; Patel 7/54) drew with Durham (292 & 115/8; Stone 4/37)
Durham’s tail dug deep to earn a draw and dent Warwickshire’s promotion hopes on day four of their captivating Specsavers County Championship match at Edgbaston.
Set 218 to win from 41 overs after Axar Patel’s career-best haul of 7/54, Durham were fancying their chances but four wickets from Olly Stone helped reduce the visitors to 102 for eight with seven overs remaining.
The Bears intensified their efforts but wicketkeeper Stuart Poynter (9*) and number ten Matt Salisbury (5*) put on a resolute tenth wicket partnership of 13 runs from 35 balls.
With 70 overs lost in the match and Warwickshire’s promotion rivals Sussex and Kent closing in on top spot, there was plenty of urgency from the hosts to engineer a winning opportunity.
Starting the day on 28 for one, Ian Bell was the first to go, caught by Graham Clark after wafting at Axar Patel’s first ball for 10, with Dominic Sibley following him shortly after, bowled by Patel for 27 trying to sweep.
Jonathan Trott then fell four balls later, edging to Paul Collingwood for 13 off Barry McCarthy, leaving the Bears struggling on 68 for four.
A valuable partnership of 89 from 202 balls between Sam Hain and Tim Ambrose who was dropped twice on 10 and 14, edged Warwickshire ahead in the game.
But once Ambrose was trapped LBW by Patel, wickets fell at an alarming rate – five in nine overs – as the spinner bulldozed through the tail, once Barry McCarthy removed Keith Barker for five, to chalk up a career-best of 27.4-12-54-7.
The 24 year-old bowled his namesake for seven, before getting Chris Wright (15), Stone (0) and Ryan Sidebottom to hole out with the latter dismissal coming via the head of Will Smith at short leg.
Durham needed to go at 5.31 an over to reach their target, but they were immediately put on the back foot.
Barker trapped Alex Lees LBW for nine, before Wright got Cameron Steel to edge behind for 21, whilst Stone dismissed Smith for eight an over later. Both wickets had come following a bowling change.
Stone struck again, Richardson given LBW, putting the visitors on 54 for four and needing another 164 to win from 22.4 overs.
An away win now looked heavily unlikely and Warwickshire, who were rotating the seam attack, struck with 21 overs remaining when Stone got Clark to find Hain at deep square for 23.
Patel, who was going at a run a ball, was the next to fall trapped LBW by Barker for 22 leaving the experienced Collingwood and Stuart Poynter to see out the final the thirteen overs.
But Collingwood was caught by Ambrose for 13 off the bowling of Wright and McCarthy followed when Stone trapped him LBW for two.
Warwickshire’s tails were up but Durham’s were a match, defending seven intense overs of pace which saw five slips and no fielder more than 15 yards away from the bat.
Close, Day Three: Warwickshire (310 & 28/1; Rushworth 1/13) lead Durham (292; Smith 45, McCarthy 43, Salisbury 37; Stone 7/59) by 46 runs
Barry McCarthy & Matt Salisbury added valuable late order runs before rain halted Warwickshire’s reply on Day Three of the Specsavers County Championship match at Edgbaston.
After losing Paul Collingwood to the first ball of the day, the pair added 42 for the ninth wicket before Salisbury & Chris Rushworth put on 26 for the final wicket.
The returning Ollie Stone completed his seven-wicket haul & best figures in first-class cricket as Durham fell just shy of a third batting point.
In reply, Warwickshire reached 28/1 off 11 overs at the lunch break before rain intervened & wiped out the remaining 70 overs.
Rushworth got the wicket to fall, trapping Will Rhodes LBW on the back foot for 16.
McCarthy edged himself towards a second first-class fifty early on the third morning before being LBW playing across the line to Chris Wright.
But he & Salisbury looked content together at the crease, with the latter in particular producing a number of superb drives through the off side.
Salisbury overtook his previous first-class best of 25 before having his middle stump removed by Stone – but not before he had put Durham back towards parity.
Close, Day Two: Durham (224/7; Smith 45; Stone 5/43) trail Warwickshire (310; Trott 79, Wright 54*; McCarthy 4/58) by 86 runs
A devastating spell from Olly Stone helped Warwickshire end day two of their County Championship match against Durham at Edgbaston on top.
With Durham reaching 152/3 after tea, Stone replaced Keith Barker at the Pavilion End and recorded his third 5-fer of the season that saw four wickets fall for 13 runs.
The 24-year-old removed Will Smith for 46 when he edged behind to Tim Ambrose and nine balls later Axar Patel followed for 0 after playing onto his stumps.
Will Rhodes from the Birmingham End was restricting a fightback, entrenching the Durham batsman with bowling figures of 8-3-11-0, enabling Stone to trap Michael Richardson (23 from 80 balls) and Stuart Poynter LBW two balls apart in a double wicket maiden.
The hosts’ tails were up, but Durham captain Paul Collingwood (32) and Barry McCarthy (24) dug deep into the early evening with a 59 run partnership from 17 overs that left the visitors on 224/7, 86 behind.
With the sun shining over Edgbaston, conditions were a far cry from the gloomy day one, giving the batters more encouragement to score.
Warwickshire’s overnight batters of Jonathan Trott and Jeetan Patel did exactly that with five fours in the first 14 balls, before Trott – looking to score his 46th first-class hundred – was bowled for 79 by Matthew Salisbury in the third over of the morning.
Patel followed six overs later, bowled by Barry McCarthy for 26, leaving the Bears languishing on 224/7, but they were reprieved by an aggressive ninth wicket partnership.
Chris Wright (54 off 72 balls) and Olly Stone (38 off 64 balls) struck an entertaining 86 off 121 balls, which featured nine fours and a six and helped secured a third batting point.
The Bears finished on 310 all out after Stone was caught at deep mid-wicket by an excellent catch from Graham Clark, with Sidebottom following him five balls later after being trapped LBW by Patel for 0.
Durham’s reply started confidently, but sporadic early wickets and Stone’s eight over stint meant long partnerships were unable to form.
Steel was the first to go when he edged behind to Ambrose off the bowling of Stone, whilst Wright bowled Lees for 35 off his first ball of the day.
Clark was dismissed for 14 trapped LBW by Sidebottom three overs before tea leaving Durham on 105 for three, but Michael Richardson steadied the ship alongside Smith.
The pair would make a fourth wicket stand of 46 before Stone entered the fray leaving the visitors on 165 for seven.
Close, Day One: Warwickshire (184/6; Trott 67*; McCarthy 2/24) vs Durham
Chris Rushworth made it to 400 career first-class wickets as Durham’s bowlers made inroads against Warwickshire in a rain-affected first day at Edgbaston.
Warwickshire closed a day stripped of 12 overs by rain and bad light on 184/6 with Jonathan Trott unbeaten on 67, a patient and skilful innings in testing batting conditions.
After early-morning rain and a wet outfield prevented play before lunch, batting was never easy with moisture in the air under a canopy of thick cloud and with the floodlights on.
Warwickshire were deeply indebted to Trott who reached the crease at 47 for two and stayed firm while middle-order partners came and went.
After taking up the option to bowl first, Durham struck with the 18th ball of the day when Dominic Sibley edged Rushworth to third slip to reach the 400-wicket milestone, 395 of which came for Durham with the other five for the MCC.
Will Rhodes and Ian Bell added 38 in 12 overs before Barry McCarthy came on from the Pavilion End and removed Bell lbw with his fifth ball.
Rhodes reached 36 but then perished when he turned spinner Patel off the face of the bat to short leg.
McCarthy struck again when Sam Hain edged to wicketkeeper Stuart Poynton, a wicket which left Warwickshire uneasily perched on 100 for four at tea. That became 114 for five when Tim Ambrose went back to a full-length ball from Rushworth which hit middle and off.
Trott reached his half-century (115 balls) with his ninth four, cut off a short delivery from Patel, in a partnership of 36 in 16 overs with Keith Barker before the latter fell to a fine catch at second slip by Alex Lees off Matt Salisbury.