More agony as Notts’ winless streak goes on
FORMER England all-rounder Tim Bresnan led the way as Warwickshire pulled off a stunning victory to extend Nottinghamshire’s dismal record in first-class cricket to 29 matches without a win on the final day of their Lv=insurance County Championship match at Trent Bridge.
The 36-year-old Yorkshireman finished unbeaten on 68, sharing a stand of 113 with England fast bowler Olly Stone as Warwickshire chased down a target of 333 to win by three wickets despite England opener Dominic Sibley being unable to bat because of a broken finger.
Bresnan had an escape on 56 when Nottinghamshire wicketkeeper Tom Moores put down a difficult chance off Stuart Broad but had earned his luck. He hit eight boundaries and completed the victory by running two to backward point off Dane Paterson with 8.1 overs to spare.
The result was particularly frustrating for Paterson, Nottinghamshire’s debutant overseas player. The South African seamer looked to have swung the match his new team’s way when he took three wickets in 17 balls shortly after lunch.
By dismissing Sam Hain and Matt Lamb after both had made fifties, Paterson seemed to have removed Warwickshire’s best hopes of emerging with a victory.
But Bresnan and Stone, who made his second highest first-class score to go with five wickets in the match, inflicted more pain on the home side and though Stone was out for 43 with 36 still needed and Broad giving his full commitment to the cause, Danny Briggs held his nerve to help Bresnan complete the job.
Nottinghamshire had been ahead in the match since midway through the opening day and felt they were in pole position to end their drought when a wicket in the last over of the third day left Warwickshire 85 for three, still 247 runs behind.
But Hain and Lamb frustrated their hopes of making more inroads by batting through the morning session, Hain surviving a barrage of short deliveries from Broad, who hit him on the back and on the helmet in a ferocious three-over burst just before lunch.
The fourth-wicket pair added 89, Hain building a patient 50 off 117 balls with six fours, Lamb completing his off 111 with seven fours.
The picture changed when Patterson replaced Broad at the pavilion end after lunch.
The skiddy right-arm seamer removing Hain with his fourth delivery, edged low to wicketkeeper Tom Moores, then sending Lamb’s offstump flying and uprooting Michael Burgess’s leg stump in what felt like a decisive spell.
But though Broad, who bowled 20 overs on the final day and 49 in the match, removed Stone, who edged a drive to Moores, with the second new ball soon after hitting his England teammate on the elbow, it was Nottinghamshire’s only subsequent success on a deeply disappointing day for the home side as Bresnan remained defiant.