Championship Rewind: Warwickshire v Essex, 2003

The Bears have benefited from many great pairs of opening bowlers over the years: Foster and Jeeves, Willis and Brown, Donald and Small, Barker and Wright.

When Warwickshire met Essex in the championship at Edgbaston in 2003 another illustrious new ball pairing was added to the list - Ostler and Knight.

And their skilful work set up a great contest which culminated in only the second championship tie in Warwickshire's history.

On the first day, the early-season match advanced in orthodox fashion. The Bears chose to bat and piled up 446 for seven thanks to centuries from Jim Troughton and Dougie Brown. But then rain arrived to wash out most of the second day and all the third.

A target was agreed - and this was where the highly effective bowling of Dominic Ostler and Nick Knight came in.

To make Essex's second innings target reasonable, they needed to rapidly trim a few runs off it in the first, so Giles turned to Ostler and Knight. Bowling skilfully to their fields, they engineered the plan perfectly, each delivering 2-0-33-0.

It should have surprised no one that they did such an expert job. Both had already taken a first class wicket and, in each case, a most illustrious one. Desmond Haines, batting for Middlesex against Essex, once took a liberty with a ferocious Knight bouncer and sent up a skier. Andrew Strauss, on Middlesex duty at Edgbaston, was undone by Ostler's flight and guile and holed out.

After Warwickshire forfeited their second innings, Essex faced a target of 381 in 91 overs. Half-centuries from Irani, Darren Robinson and Andy Flower kept them in the chase while Giles set attacking fields to keep the game open.

As Ostler and Knight rested, a Bears attack of Mel Betts, Alan Richardson, Mo Sheikh, Brown and Giles worked through the Essex batting until it came to the thrilling last act. 379 for nine. Two runs needed.

Graham Napier and Scott Brant at the crease. Brant takes a single. The scores are level.

One run to win. Giles to Napier. A nudged one would do for the batsman but he goes for glory and tries to finish it with a six. Down the track, he swings and misses and yorks himself and the 1,207th first class match to be played at Edgbaston concludes in the first tie.