Warwickshire v Durham: Day one report Dominant Bears close opening day on 77-1 after restricting visitors to 201 from first inningsSep 23, 2014 18:07 By Brian Halford Keith Barker maintained his remarkable record of success against Durham with another five-wicket haul as Warwickshire totally dominated the opening day of their last championship game of the season at Edgbaston.Barker took five for 59 as Durham, having chosen to bat, mustered only 201 - a decent recovery from 43 for five but still well below par on a good batting pitch.Warwickshire then reached 77 for one by the close - an excellent foundation from which to press for the victory that would secure second place in the final Division One table.Whether Durham’s focus was less than total after their celebrations at Lord’s on Saturday only they will know - but the Bears won’t care. They were fully focused all-right and they have one paw firmly on that runners-up spot.Barker led the way, as he habitually does against Durham. Before this match the left-armer had taken 32 wickets in seven championship games against them, a harvest which includes match-figures of eight for 46 at Chester-le-Street two months ago and ten for 70 at Edgbaston two years ago. He also scored his maiden first-class century against them - as a substitute.It’s safe to say that Durham don’t relish facing Barker (and were no doubt delighted to see his absence from the team-sheet at Lord’s last Saturday). This time, they chose to get the first batting ordeal over early.Strangely, having three days earlier capitalised royally on the indisputable advantage of bowling on a September morning, this time they elected to bat. It was a hard decision to fathom - and whatever logic lay behind it was soon in shreds as they slumped to 43 for five. There was some, though not huge, movement off the pitch but the ball swung and a succession of batsmen nibbled at it outside off-stump.Barker took three wickets in his first spell, trapping Mark Stoneman lbw and having Scott Borthwick and Gordon Muchall caught in the cordon.Olly Hannon-Dalby snared Keaton Jennings caught-behind twice in four balls - the first time the batsman didn’t walk, the second the umpire ordered him to. When Paul Collingwood edged Barker to second slip it was 43 for five.Michael Richardson (42, 83 balls) launched a fightback which was then taken up by Ryan Pringle, who made a big impression on the opening day of only his second first-class match.Composed of temperament and clean of stroke, the 22-year-old from Sunderland struck an unbeaten 63 (98 balls, ten fours) and was denied the chance to press on for a ton only by the removal of all his partners.Boyd Rankin disposed of two of them and Rikki Clarke and Jeetan Patel one each to dismiss Durham in time to leave the Bears a full session to bat.At least it would have been a full session if the umpires had not twice taken the players off “when the artificial light exceeded natural light”.How hard Varun Chopra and Ian Westwood were finding it to see the ball can be discerned from the score of 74 without loss from 16.1 overs and as the umpires returned to the pavilion a number of spectators made their views known in ribald fashion. Who could blame them?When play briefly resumed, Westwood (31, 53 balls) edged Varun Aaron to the wicketkeeper, but the umpires were soon looking darkly at their meters again.Off went the players, this time for keeps, seagulls sailing insouciantly far above a field left empty but for a wheelbarrow of glorious, coruscating pink and a man with a watering can.
304/3Chopra 122Trott just out for 104
Quote from: adrenachrome on September 24, 2014, 04:05:41 PM304/3Chopra 122Trott just out for 104So if we draw now, aren't we guaranteed 2nd place in the table? I thought we needed 6 bonus points plus the draw?
Warwickshire v Durham: Day two reportBears set for championship runners-up spot after closing second day 212 ahead of Durham on 413-8 Sep 24, 2014 18:59 By Brian Halford Warwickshire will finish as runners-up in the county championship this season after another day of domination of Durham featured centuries from Varun Chopra and Jonathan Trott.Chopra scored 160 (244 balls, 23 four) and Trott 104 (164 balls, 16 fours) in a partnership of 191 in 46 overs during which the Bears sailed past Durham’s first-innings total of 201 with only two wickets down.At the close of the second day, Warwickshire were 413 for eight - 212 ahead with a little power to add.They have work to do win this game as, on a pitch which is flattening out, Durham should make a better fist of it with the bat second time round, but have banked enough bonus points to ensure they will be runners-up with Yorkshire.That means in all three formats this season the Bears finish in the top two. An excellent effort - and a pretty well-rewarded one, raking in a total around £600,000 for the club.While Chopra and Trott were playing much as they pleased, and as the Bears passed 300 for only two wickets, some thoughts were even turning to a possible challenge to their record score against Durham - a certain 810 for four. That wasn’t to be as Durham found a bit of fight and fire with the new ball after tea.But overall it has been a flaccid performance from the visitors and they will have to summon up much greater conviction in their cricket to prevent Warwickshire rounding off the season with their eighth championship win of it.After resuming on 77 for one, the Bears advanced to 113 before a rain-break disrupted William Porterfield’s concentration. Shortly after the players returned to the field, he left a delivery from Chris Rushworth which disturbed middle and off-stumps to dismiss him for 28 (56 balls).Porterfield has had a strong season, much his best for the Bears, and will finish with at least 778 championship runs but will feel that there is another step up still to take in terms of converting starts to big scores.At 113 for two, 88 behind, Warwickshire had work to do to build a commanding lead but in Chopra and Trott they had two chaps with the appetite, application and technique to do it.Trott’s 36th first-class century featured some straight drives as sweet as he has ever hit while Chopra batted with an assurance and fluency which suggested that he might make a late charge to 1,000 championship runs this season - he went into bat needing 375.But they were two of four wickets to fall in 13 overs with the new ball. Trott top-edged a pull, Sam Hain fell lbw, Chopra slashed Paul Collingwood low to gully and Rikki Clarke departed to a catch at short mid-on.That left a little work to do to secure the fifth batting point which would in turn secure runners-up spot. Tim Ambrose and Jeetan Patel, as befits two experienced and excellent professionals, did the necessary for their side with a partnership of 65 in 16 overs.Neither of them scored the run which actually harvested the vital point - that came from a bye. But the extra triggered warm applause from spectators who have appreciated all the skill and hard work from this admirable set of Bears over the last five months.Ambrose feathered an attempted pull and Keith Barker edged into the slips in the last over of the day but Patel will resume on Thursday morning on 37 (59 balls, no fours, two sixes).Warwickshire’s supporters would love to see a few more batting fireworks - and then some wickets - from the Kiwi (nailed on for player-of-the-year, surely) on Thursday but, whatever happens, only an almighty turnaround on this match can deny Warwickshire a winning conclusion to a season of considerable success.
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Topic: Bears/Pears Cricket Thread 2014 (Read 176501 times)
