250 up for Oliver as Bears wrap up innings
OLIVER Hannon Dalby celebrated 250 career first-class wickets as he ran through Northamptonshire’s lower order on day two of this LV= Insurance County Championship game at Northampton.
In a miserly four-over spell, Hannon-dalby claimed four victims for just five runs as Northamptonshire added 31 runs to their overnight total to close on 451 all out. The 33-yearold-seamer is now the second leading wicket-taker in Division One with 29 scalps, just behind Keith Barker’s 32.
But despite his efforts Warwickshire still face a tough task in this game after some highly disciplined Northamptonshire bowling performance restricted scoring to just 1.8 an over with only two boundaries coming in the first 25 overs of the visitors’ reply.
Alex Davies looked to regain the initiative with some lusty blows but Jack White soon ended the resistance when he trapped him leg before for 31. Dom Sibley was still there at the close unbeaten on 30 as Warwickshire ended the day on 71 for one, still a mammoth 380 behind.
Play did not start until 3.10pm after heavy rain but Hannon-dalby struck immediately with the second ball of the day. Tom Taylor became his 250th victim when he was caught behind playing an expansive shot.
In his next over Hannon-dalby picked up Lewis Mcmanus in similar fashion, to give Warwickshire keeper Michael Burgess his 100th career dismissal.
Ben Sanderson was greeted with some short stuff from Nathan Mcandrew but responded by hooking him twice to the boundary and then punching him through the covers for four more before he edged Hannondalby to Dom Sibley at first slip.
Simon Kerrigan, who was struck on the helmet trying to take evasive action to a short ball from Mcandrew, hit the same bowler through midwicket and cover to take Northamptonshire past 450. But Hannon-dalby ended proceedings soon afterwards by knocking White’s stumps out of the ground.
Northamptonshire’s seamers Sanderson, White, Taylor and Luke Procter found plenty of movement on offer to beat the bat and keep openers Davies and Sibley contained. There were few signs of aggression and any attempts to find the boundary were hampered by some ill timed shots. Just two balls crossed the ropes in the first 25 overs with Northamptonshire turning the screw further with four consecutive maidens.
Alex Davies had a reprieve when he offered a sharp return catch but Taylor could not quite hold on in his follow-through. Davies started to find his groove against Luke Procter, dispatching him for three boundaries in two overs including an imperious drive down the ground, before White trapped him lbw for 31 with Warwickshire
Hopefully we can bat past them, get a bit of a lead and try to force a result that way. Oliver Hannon Dalby
on 53 for one in the 28th over. Chris Benjamin nicked his first ball from White but the ball bounced just in front of first slip. He remained 8 not out with Sibley as the day ended in bright sunshine. Hannon-dalby who took four wickets in four overs said: “We toiled yesterday, probably not at our best as a bowling unit. We know that to go at four an over for a whole day isn’t good enough, but to put that right today is nice.
“We had a little regroup overnight
and managed to get four wickets pretty quickly today, which is funny. Then the guys batted great this afternoon. Northants bowled really well, but the way we dug in and made them graft was great.
“It is a rock hard outfield and it is a fast outfield, we had balls flying everywhere yesterday. I don’t know why but it didn’t seem quite so fast today. Hopefully from our point of view it speeds up again tomorrow and we can crack on with this run rate. Hopefully we can bat past them, get a bit of a lead and try to force a result that way.”