Notts left to settle for frustrating draw with Bears
Ed Barnard and Warwickshire were able to hold on to deny Notts victory
- Published
Rothesay County Championship Division One, Edgbaston (day four)
Warwickshire 93 & 181-6: Barnard 40*, Mousley 32;Tongue 2-49
Nottinghamshire 367: Hameed 138*, O'Neill 50; Booth 5-90
Nottinghamshire (14 pts) drew with Warwickshire (11 pts)
Dominant Nottinghamshire ran out of time and had to settle for a draw against Warwickshire after rain took out much of the final day of their County Championship Division One match at Edgbaston.
Warwickshire, trailing by 274 on first innings, entered the final day on 163-6 second time around, with the visitors four wickets away from the win their command of the match deserved. But rain prevented play until 15:45 BST, 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 181-6.
Warwickshire ended with much relief at a draw, having been outplayed. 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' on an increasingly placid pitch. 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 so emphatically second best. Nottinghamshire might reflect that County Championship matches are very hard to win, so when you do build a winning position, it's a good idea to stay positive and do everything you can to turn it into a victory.
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Warwickshire bowler 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 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."
Nottinghamshire head coach Peter Moores said:
"It's always frustrating when the weather stops you going for the win because we played really good cricket. What we will take from it it we played some excellent cricket to get into that position with the limited time we were on the field.
"Credit to Barnard and Hannon-Dalby today, they got stuck in. The pitch still had a bit in there but the ball was a bit softer and it was harder to get a wicket. There were a few play and misses and a couple of nicks that didn't carry but credit to them for the way they played.
"We can take a lot from the game. We batted very well on quite a challenging pitch to get 350-plus. Then the way Brett and Fergus bowled, and the way we bowled as a unit, was great to see.
"It has been a good start to the season because we had to really fight to put ourselves into strong positions in the first two games and this performance has backed that up."