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Edgbaston clash ends in stalemate
Warwickshire and Somerset shared a Rothesay County Championship draw as the final day at Edgbaston ended in stalemate.
Set a victory target of 377 in 69 overs, Warwickshire plodded to 161 for four as Tom Latham (52 from 103 balls) and Sam Hain (68 not out, 157) escorted their team to safety.
Somerset had extended their second innings in the morning to 229 for eight (James Rew 61, 81) but not as quickly as they hoped due to interference from Australian off-spinner Corey Rocchoccioli who took a debut five-for – five for 67.
Both shored up their positions in the middle of Division One with a solid points haul from the match.
Somerset resumed on the final morning on 116 for three, 283 ahead, and started purposefully. Rew completed a 66-ball half-century but two wickets for Rocchoccioli slowed the momentum and changed the plan. The spinner unfurled a turning delivery which Rew edged to wicketkeeper Kai Smith. Tom Banton missed a sweep and was lbw.
Bowling coach Steve Kirby had suggested after day three that Somerset would need 80 overs to try to bowl Warwickshire out, but that point arrived with the lead only 317. That would have been a very attractive target on a pitch still good for batting.
Tom Abell (42, 63) and Archie Vaughan (38 not out, 59) batted watchfully then expanded to add 65 in 14 overs before Abell charged and missed at Rocchoccioli. Pretorious had his off-stump rendered askew by Ethan Bamber and Rocchoccioli’s five-for was complete when Craig Overton missed a reverse sweep and was lbw, triggering lunch and the declaration.
To challenge the target – 377 in two sessions – Warwickshire needed a strong platform but they lost soon both openers. Alex Davies fell to the fourth ball, lbw, trapped in the crease by Matt Henry. Rob Yates left a gap between bat and pad and Jack Leach, who opened the bowling, turned the ball through it.
That scuppered any chance of a Warwickshire win but Somerset’s hopes were ground away over the next two hours by Latham and Hain who declined to pursue a target of 276 from 34 overs after tea.
Latham drove a return catch to Overton and Jacob Bethell top-edged a pull at Pretorius but Hain reached 50 for the 58th time in First Class cricket to see the job through.
At the end of the match, Somerset skipper, Craig Overton said:Â “We knew it was going to be tricky to force a victory today. We wanted a few more runs in the first innings – after a good start we went a little bit nowhere on the morning of day two . We were nearly able to enforce the follow on but, thinking about it now, if we had enforced the follow on we might have broken a few bowlers.
“We knew it was unlikely we would bowl them out in 70 overs but we gave it everything. When they were 16 for two we had a sniff but then Tom Latham and Hainy played well. It started reversing after tea and the seamers came back into it and we got a couple more wickets but the pitch didn’t provide too much spin which was disappointing.
“It was a great team performance though. Everyone has contributed, with the opening batters giving us a great start and Lammers backed them up by making it back-to-back hundreds for him. That’s massive for us and the way the bowlers operated with the kookaburra ball, getting that reverse swing, was very impressive and created that opportunity to win it this afternoon. We couldn’t quite take the opportunity but it was a very good performance.”
