Bears back to winning ways

Warwickshire recorded their third win of the season in the LV County Championship when beating Essex at Southend by 7 wickets after being set a target of 155 for victory on the third day.

Warwickshire 19 points Essex 3 points

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DAY 3

Essex added twenty runs to their overnight total on the third morning before Phillips was caught by James Ordin the gulley off Boyd Rankin for a single.

Matt Walker 39 continued to be a problem, although it was clear that batting was easier than on the opening two days, as he and Masters compiled a partnership of forty six for the eighth wicket before Imran had Walker caught by Rikki Clarke and then trapped Masters lbw for thirty four.

Eight runs later Imran took the final wicket with another lbw to dismiss Carter and left Essex setting the Bears a target of 155 for victory.

James Ord 6,  went with the total on twenty, but a second wicket partnership of eighty two between Darren Maddy 39, for the second time in the match, and skipper Ian Westwood, virtually secured the Bears a victory and despite Westwood falling lbw to McGain for sixty one, Troughton 18* and Clarke 22* saw them through to secure a seven wicket victory.

Ian Westwood completed 4,000 first-class runs in the course of his innings.

 

DAY 2

In what continues to be an intriguing match, the Bears wrapped up the Essex innings in the first over of the day for the addition of just a single and set about their task of establishing a first innings lead to give them a much needed victory in the LV County Championship.

Andy Carter put an immediate end to the Bears hopes when he bowled debutant James Ord for a single and then had skipper Westwood caught by Tom Westley for seven to leave them 11-2 after eight overs.

Jim Troughton 10 was bowled by Tony Palladino but Darren Maddy and Rikki Clarke took the Bears to lunch aafter twenty eight overs on 62-3 trailing by just eighty eight.

After the interval, Maddy was trapped lbw by Masters for thirty nine, the top score in the match so far, while Tim Ambrose edged Bryce McGain to James Foster for six.

When Clarke 36 followed, to another Masters' lbw, Chris Woakes supplied Masters with a third wicket when caught by Mickleburgh for a single. After three boundaries, Barker was lbw to McGain who then picked up the final two wickets of Carter and Imran Tahir as the Bears were bowled out after fifty nine overs for 155 to give them a lead of just five. 

If home supporters had hoped for better luck second time around, they were disappointed as Essex found batting no easier than on the opening day, collapsing to 78-6 with an overall lead of seventy three at the close.

Pettini and Mickleburgh made a good start posting thirty three for the first wicket before Boyd Rankin struck as Pettini was taken by Ambrose for sixteen. Westley 1, was caught in the slips by Westwood off Clarke three runs later and the out-of-form Ravi Bopara 6 gave Ambrose a second catch this time off Carter.

In his next over Carter struck again when Mickleburgh was lbw for thirty and despite  lasting for almost forty five minutes, skipper Foster was next to go, caught at slip off Chris Woakes for twelve.

Palladino came in as nightwatchman but in his second over he became the first player in this extraordinary match to make aduck when he was stumped by Ambrose off what was to be the final delivery of the day, with Essex seventy three runs ahead with just four second innnings wickets in hand. Matt Walker was unbeaten on nine from forty two deliveries.

With more than half a day lost on the opening day and weather permitting, this doesn't look as if it will go any where near a fourth day!!

 

DAY 1

 After losing the toss at Southend, Warwickshire had one of their best sessions of the season, as Essex went to lunch on 83-7, with Neil Carter taking three wickets and Clarke, Woakes and Rankin sharing the other four to fall.
Chris Woakes struck an early blow for the Bears when trapping Mark Pettini for just a single and when Neil Carter picked up Westley 12 and Bopara 1 within two deliveries of each other, Essex were 30-3.
Neil Carter continued his tremendous summer when Mickleburgh 10, became his fortieth victim of the season and Rikki Clarke chipped in with the wickets of Foster and Phillips while Rankin completed the morning’s haul when Masters edged to Ambrose.
83-7 at lunch quickly became 91-8 when Walker played across Woakes and was lbw for a gritty twenty nine.
The ninth wicket pair of McGain and Palladino added forty three before McGrain became the fifth lbw victim of the innings to a full delivery from Clarke.
With Essex on 149-9 and Palladino now top-scorer on thirty one, a torrential downpour and thunderstorm hit the ground bringing play to an immediate halt just before three o’clock.

When the rain finally abated at four thirty, the umpires held three inspections before finally abandoning play for the day at five thirty.