County Championship: Rob Yates misses out on ton but Bears draw with Pears to book Division One place
- Published
Rob Yates just missed out on a second century of the summer against Worcestershire
LV= County Championship Group One, New Road, Worcester (day four): |
Warwickshire 395: Malan 141, Sibley 80; Sodhi 6-89 and 215-2 dec: Yates 88, Malan 77*, Sibley 41 |
Worcestershire 447-9 dec: Mitchell 113, Barnard 112*, Haynes 65 |
Worcestershire (12 pts) drew with Warwickshire (14 pts) |
Warwickshire batted out the day with Worcestershire to earn the draw which secured their expected top-two finish in Group One and a place in Division One following the season split.
The Pears added 32 to their overnight score before declaring on 447-9.
That allowed Ed Barnard to completed his second ton of the season before finishing unbeaten on 112.
The Bears then batted until the loss of Rob Yates (88) on 215-2, after which they declared, with Pieter Malan on 77.
Following his first-innings 141, the South African finished with a run aggregate of 218 in the match. Of his total of 339 runs in six Championship matches this season, 278 have come against the Pears.
England opener Dom Sibley made 41 to take his run tally to 80 in the match - three weeks ahead of the first Test against India at Trent Bridge on 4 August.
Only 21 wickets fell in four days on a flat pitch - of which only three came on the last day as second-placed Warwickshire finished with 14 points from the game.
Along with Group One winners Nottinghamshire, who they have already beaten twice, the Bears will be up against Yorkshire, Lancashire, Somerset and Hampshire in Division One, while Worcestershire will spend the rest of the Championship campaign two divisions lower.
The Bears will also go into the group with an immediate advantage thanks to the 21 points they carry forward - half the tally gained from those two wins over Notts.
The other five teams in their group also carry points forward - Somerset 18.5, Lancashire 16.5, Hampshire 8.5, Nottinghamshire 5 and Yorkshire 4.5
The Pears, who took 12 points from this fixture, finish second bottom of the group. They and Derbyshire will be in Division Three after the split, with four games to come against Kent, Sussex, Middlesex and Leicestershire.
Worcestershire centurion Ed Barnard:
"I would have slept less last night if I hadn't got that hundred against Essex in the first game of the season.
"There were still a few nerves jangling around overnight. I was getting close last night and maybe in previous times might have tried to rush to get there.
"Batting at number six is something I want to do. It's where I want to be batting so to really take that opportunity this week, I was really pleased with.
"To not only get some runs, but get a big one and make sure I was there at the end, kind of helped me to settle a bit and stamp my authority on that spot."
Warwickshire head coach Mark Robinson:
"We want to win the whole thing. Whether you are good enough is another issue. But you can't win it unless you get out of the group which has been really tough.
"The last game, to secure us through to the next stage, was Pieter Malan's day along with some help from Sibs.
"Pieter is a very good player and batting here in England on wet and seaming wickets in May is not always easy.
"He filled his boots on a placid surface. He has been a little unlucky, caught three times down the leg side but delivered in this game."