Ervine Entertains But Warwickshire Win

Warwickshire beat Hampshire by ten wickets in their LV=County Championship match at The Rose Bowl.

Hampshire v Warwickshire
LV= County Championship Division One
13th - 16th September 2010
The Rose Bowl 

Summary: Day Four
Warwickshire beat Hampshire by ten wickets
Hampshire: 218 & 132 (Ervine 62, Woakes 5-34)
Warwickshire: 303 & 51-0 (Westwood 27*, Chopra 18*)
Click here to see a full scorecard

Honours went to Warwickshire on the final day of their LV= County Championship clash with Hampshire at The Rose Bowl.

Their win, which secured - beyond all doubt - their survival in Division One, was set up when they bowled out Hampshire for 132 in their second innings.

Eight Hampshire wickets fell in the morning session, with Chris Woakes doing most of the damage, taking four of his eventual five scalps in a destructive 13-over spell which also included five maidens.

Sean Ervine provided some entertainment after lunch, blasting the ball to all corners of the ground as he made a rapid 62 off 60 balls to give the home side a glimmer of hope.

His efforts ensured that Warwickshire had to bat a second time, but it wasn't enough to prevent defeat, and Ian Westwood and Varan Chopra knocked off the 48 runs required to win.

The result means the midlanders leap-frog their hosts into 6th in the table; Hampshire finish the season in seventh place with 157 points.

 

Click on the image above to see highlights of Thursday's play

Hampshire began their innings under cloudy skies – conditions not dissimilar to those in which they played their first innings. They started play 85 runs in arrears after Warwickshire's 303 yesterday, and with the ball seaming about, the visitors sniffed a chance of a victory.

The home side came out playing positively, Jimmy Adams getting them off the mark by cracking two consecutive balls from Andrew Miller through the covers for four. Not only did this take him past 2,500 runs in all forms of cricket this season, but it also brought his first-class tally this year to 1,351 – his best season yet.

However, his stay at the crease was a brief one, as he was caught behind by Johnson while still on 8 to become Woakes' fiftieth wicket in the Championship this season. Michael Carberry (1) departed in similar fashion off the bowling of Andrew Miller almost immediately afterwards.

At two down and with only thirteen runs on the board, Hampshire were under pressure, facing a fired-up attack in tricky conditions. Wickets fell at regular intervals, as Woakes had Phil Hughes (4) trapped lbw, then Liam Dawson (9) and Michael Bates (6) caught behind in quick succession. Vince (6) and Cork (9) both fell to Darren Maddy, before James Tomlinson (7) edged one to Rikki Clarke at slip off Imran Tahir.

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Hampshire thus reached lunch on 81-8, still needing five runs to make Warwickshire bat again. But Ervine had no intention of lying down. He went into full twenty20 mode after the interval, straight-driving a six off Tahir to take Hampshire's total past 85 and so ensure that the visitors would have to bat again. As an encore he clobbered 22 from Clarke's next over, including four fours and a majestic pull for another maximum.

Briggs, who stood with him in a 56-run partnership for the ninth wicket went for 11, lbw to Tahir, and was followed two balls later by Ervine, who was caught by Woakes off his own bowling to reach his five-fer. His thrilling knock was much appreciated by the crowd at The Rose Bowl, and he received a warm reception as he walked back to the pavilion.

However, the day belonged to the visitors, who still could have been relegated today (and - thanks to Kent’s unexpected victory over Yorkshire - would have been had Hampshire won this match). Westwood and Chopra built steadily, finding the gaps and rotating the strike. They saw Warwickshire home without loss for their sixth Championship win of the season.

Words: James Aitcheson - Images: Neil Marshall
 

Day Three

Summary
Hampshire trail Warwickshire by 85 runs
with 10 wickets remaining in the second innings
Hampshire: 218
Warwickshire: 303 (Bell 104, Clarke 52)

He had to wait a long time for it, but Simon Jones bowled his first full Championship innings for Hampshire on day three of this match against Warwickshire at The Rose Bowl... and didn't he make the most of it!

The Welshman took four wickets at the expense of a respectable 60 runs, proving he could still be a real force for the club over the coming seasons.

Together with his team mates, Jones saw Warwickshire off for 303 in just over 100 overs before the teams were stopped from returning due to bad light.

Warwickshire owed a lot to the recently returned Ian Bell who scored 104, but the day - and Bell's wicket - belonged to Simon Jones who finished the day with a massive 22 overs under his belt including 5 maidens.

 

Click on the image above to see highlights of Wednesday's play

Resuming at 29-0, the visitors added just ten runs before the first wickets fell. Jones and James Tomlinson dismissed Varan Chopra and Ian Westwood respectively in the space of four deliveries, both adjudged lbw. That brought Bell and Darren Maddy to the crease to face a hostile spell from the former Ashes winner.

One particularly quick Jones delivery struck Maddy on the helmet, shaking him up and causing a brief delay while the Warwickshire physiotherapist attended to him and fresh headgear was brought out. For a while after that The Hampshire pace pair tied the Warwickshire batsmen down, with just three runs coming from eight overs at one stage. But Maddy and Bell dug in, and Warwickshire reached lunch without further loss on 92-2.

When they returned to the field, it was with more attacking intent, as Bell demonstrated when he struck including three fours in a single over shortly after lunch. Together they put on 96, a stand which eventually came to an end when Maddy charged out of his crease against Danny Briggs and was bowled for 40.

James Troughton (2) followed not long after when Michael Carberry held on to a low chance at gully off the bowling of Jones. But Bell kept finding the gaps, and added a further 83 with Rikki Clarke for the fifth wicket to wrest the initiative back from the home side.

Jones v Bell - an intriguing battle eventually won by the Hampshire man

Bell reached his hundred in the last over before tea, guiding a Tomlinson delivery down to third man for his thirteenth four. It was a fine innings from the England batsman, who only recently returned to action after sustaining a foot injury in the second ODI against Bangladesh in July, and by the interval the visitors were trailing the home side by just a single run.

However, Bell could only add three more to his total in the evening session before he edged a Jones delivery to wicketkeeper Michael Bates, who dived in front of first slip to take a fantastic catch. Hampshire took the new ball as soon as it became available and in his first over with it Jones had Richard Johnson caught down the leg side for a duck.

But Warwickshire battled on. Clarke reached 52 before he was caught behind trying to leave a ball that came back in, and was soon followed back to the pavilion by Keith Barker. Imran Tahir made an entertaining 20 off 15 balls, which included the only six of the innings, before he too fell, closely followed by Miller for 5. Woakes was the not out batsman, ending with 14. 

Thus Warwickshire were finished off in the evening session for 303: a feat which looked unlikely when Bell and Clarke resumed after tea with the score on 217-4. Both Tomlinson, who bowled almost 32 overs in the innings, and spinner Briggs, ended the day with three wickets apiece – just rewards for their efforts. But it was Jones, with his four scalps, who was the real star of the day.

Words: James Aitcheson - Images: Neil Marshall

Day Two

Summary
Warwickshire trail Hampshire by 189 runs
with 10 wickets remaining in the first innings
Hampshire: 218 (Dawson 74, Cork 41)
Warwickshire: 29-0 (Chopra 17*, Westwood 9*)

Only 36.1 overs were bowled on the second day of the LV= County Championship match between Hampshire and Warwickshire at The Rose Bowl, as bad light and rain interrupted proceedings. By the close of play the visitors had reached 29 for no loss in reply to Hampshire's first innings of 218: a competitive score on what would appear to be a good bowling wicket.

Liam Dawson and Danny Briggs were the stand-out players for the home side, putting on a 60-run partnership for the ninth wicket and frustrating the Warwickshire attack, who were clearly hoping to wrap the innings up rapidly this morning.

Earlier Dominic Cork – unable to add to his overnight score of 41 – and James Tomlinson (1) had fallen in quick succession, and when Briggs came to the crease Hampshire were struggling on
156-8.

The home side fought back well, though. While Dawson built steadily after resuming on 40, Briggs showed that he wasn't afraid to play his shots. The 19-year-old struck four boundaries on his way to 27, including a wristy flick through midwicket, and at one stage was scoring at nearly a run a ball in spite of the bowler-friendly conditions. His enterprising innings eventually came to an end when he was trapped lbw by Imran Tahir.

 

Click on the image above to see highlights of Tuesday's play

Dawson followed shortly afterwards when he chased a lifting delivery from Keith Barker and nicked it to wicketkeeper Richard Johnson. Nevertheless, his measured 74 from 173 balls was his highest score of the summer, and formed the backbone of Hampshire's innings. Their eventual total of 218 represented a major recovery after they were 85-6 at one stage yesterday.

Warwickshire had to negotiate a tricky five-over period before lunch, and did so successfully, with Westwood and Chopra taking them to 11 for no loss. Following the interval the pair continued to build, albeit under pressure from the Hampshire bowlers, before bad light intervened half an hour into the session with the score 29-0 after 12.4 overs.

An hour later it looked as though play would resume, but no sooner had the players made it out to the middle than the umpires sent them back to the pavilion again. Gloomy conditions prevailed throughout the rest of the afternoon, and as it began to drizzle, the likelihood of seeing any more cricket diminished until play was officially called off at 5pm.

Before the interruption Simon Jones bowled 3.4 overs in his maiden first-class appearance for Hampshire. He'll be hoping for wickets tomorrow when Warwickshire resume, still trailing by 189 runs, with openers Westwood and Chopra not out on 9 and 17 respectively.

Words: James Aitcheson - Images: Neil Marshall

Day One

Summary
Hampshire lead Warwickshire by 147 runs
Hampshire: 147-6 (Dawson 40*, Cork 41*)

A rain affected day at The Rose Bowl put a halt to Warwickshire’s survival charge in the LV County Championship Division One as Hampshire ended the day on 147-6 after only 53 overs of play.

Darren Maddy was the pick of the bowlers taking figures of 3-25 as the home side struggled to 85-6.

Liam Dawson (40*) and Dominic Cork (41*) then put up an unbeaten fifty partnership to help Hampshire to 147-6 at the end of the day’s play.

Warwickshire won the toss and took the bold decision to bowl first in search of the nine points that would secure their safety in the top division.

 

Click on the image above to see highlights of Monday's play

Hampshire openers, Michael Carberry and Jimmy Adams chose their shots carefully, scoring just 12 from the first 10 overs. However the persistent tight bowling from Chris Woakes and Andrew Miller paid off as Carberry (7) found the edge from Woakes leaving the score on 28-1.

The introduction of Maddy saw Hampshire lose three wickets for only 11 runs as he took the wickets of Adams, Phil Hughes and James Vince. Adams (13) was given out to a suspicious LBW while Maddy then clean bowled Hughes (11). Vince then walked for a duck after edging to Bell; Hampshire only on 42.

Dawson and Sean Ervine then saw it though to reach lunch 69-4.

Dominic Cork hits out in an impressive unbeaten knock of 41 from only 38 balls

After the break Hampshire looked to rebuild the innings but, with only two more runs to the board, Ervine (15) mistimed a pull shot and skied Rikki Clarke to Maddy. Michael Bates (2) was then bowled by Keith Barker having already been dropped in the slips.

Cork came to the crease with a more attacking approach but shortly after he and Dawson had passed the fifty partnership they had done so well to manufacture they were cut short when, after 53 overs (and 20 minutes short of tea) they were called off for rain; Hampshire 147-6.

The pair will start tomorrow with the partnership worth 62 of which Cork has 41 from only 38 balls. Dawson, having played the anchor roll at the other end, will resume on 40.

Words: Glenn Noble – Images: Neil Marshall

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