Bears keep on track as records fall

• 30/08/2010

On a day when records were broken, the Warwickshire Bears kept their CB40 title hopes alive with a victory over Scotland Saltires by 4 wickets at Edgbaston after being set 268 to win

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After putting Scotland into bat at Edgbaston, Ian Westwood may have wondered if his decision was right, as the visitors plundered runs off the Bears' attack in the final stages of their innings, with Australian George Bailey making a career best unbeaten 124 and sharing in a partnership of one hundred and ninety eight for the fourth wicket with Richie Berrington 82. 

Earlier, openers Fraser Watts 26 and Ollie Hairs 24, had given Scotland a good start, posting fifty one for the first wicket, before the introduction of Keith barker into the attack resulted in both men being bowled by the Bears' left-armer.

Matthew parker then edged Barker to Johnson and at 69-3 Scotland looked for a partnership to re-establish thjeir innings.

Bailey and Berrington provided that and batted for more than twenty six overs to put Scotland into a strong position before Berrington fell to Barker off the final ball of the innings.

With a task of 6.75 runs per over required to win, Warwickshire lost Chopra to a leg-side catch off Parker, but Carter and Barker set about the Scottish bowlers, with Carter three sixes and eleven fours being particularly severe on Berrington and Drummond, before being taken on the deep mid-wicket boundary by Watts off Lyons for eighty one.

This started a mini-collapse as Barker 40 went to a catch in the deep by McCallum and Troughton 10 was lbw both to Lyons. When Westwood folowed skying to 'keeper Smith off Drummond, the Bears had lost four wickets for thirty one in eight overs and still requiring in excess of one hundred for victory looked to another batsman to play an innings to see them to victory.

With the news that Nottinghamshire had squeezed home against Durham to keep the qualification pressure on the Bears, Darren maddy 74 and Rikki Clarke 49* responded superbly, adding one hundred and eleven for the sixth wicket before Maddy was dismissed with the scores level.

Clarke hit the winning run as Warwickshire completed a fine four wicket victory setting up next Saturday's match at Edgbaston against seconfd placed Nottinghamshire, as a winner takes all match, for progress to the semi-final stages of the competition.

Re-writing the record book, Scotland's fourth wicket partnership of 198 is a record by any team against Warwickshire at Edgbaston, beating the old record of 149 between M P Vaughan & A McGrath in 1999

Warwickshire's sixth wicket partnership is an all time record in the competition, beating the old record of 91* between A M Ferreira & G W Humpage in 1980, while the total of 268 to win is a record for any side batting second to win at Edgbaston, beating the old record of 264-4 v Hampshire in 1981.

Congratulations to go to the Scotland Saltires for a superb afternoon's entertainment.