<
>

Ben Slater fifty, Dane Paterson five-for keep Nottinghamshire in compelling contest with Warwickshire

Ben Slater pulls during his innings of 73 Getty Images

Nottinghamshire 173 for 3 (Slater 77, Clarke 48*, Norwell 3-55) trail Warwickshire 341 (Rhodes 91, Lamb 67, Hain 61, Paterson 5-90) by 168 runs

A fascinating LV=Insurance County Championship game is evolving at Edgbaston where Group 1 leaders Nottinghamshire closed the second day on 173 for 3 in reply to the home side's 341.

Despite the loss of most of the second session to bad light and drizzle, all results remain possible in a compelling contest between two sides in the thick of the quest for the top two spots.

Nottinghamshire seamer Dane Paterson finished with 5 for 90 but shared his side's frustration at a merry stand of 52 between Bears last-wicket pair Liam Norwell, who was 30 not out from 37 balls, including three sixes, and Olly Hannon-Dalby with 26. They built on the diligence of Matt Lamb's 67 to assure Warwickshire of a third batting point.

Norwell then troubled Nottinghamshire with the ball, taking all the three wickets to fall, including Ben Slater for an authoritative 77.

After Warwickshire resumed on 250 for 6, Paterson quickly added to the three wickets he picked up the previous evening when Danny Briggs nicked behind and was superbly caught by wicketkeeper Tom Moores.

Lamb reached an excellent half-century from 125 balls with his sixth four, driven through the covers, but lost another partner when Craig Miles lifted Luke Fletcher to point.

With acceleration needed, Norwell got off the mark with a straight six off Fletcher but Paterson completed his five-for when Lamb edged into the cordon.

That third batting point appeared to be eluding Warwickshire when they needed five runs from the last two balls of the 110th over, from Paterson. But Hannon-Dalby nonchalantly flicked the first to the fine leg boundary and elegantly drove the next to the cover fence.

The spectators loved that and thoroughly enjoyed the 40 minutes of frolicksome batting that followed as the tail-enders frustrated the bowlers until Hannon-Dalby edged Liam Patterson-White to slip.

Nottinghamshire's reply reached six without loss at lunch and, after much interference by bad light and rain, 28 without loss at tea. Haseeb Hameed and Slater then added 72 before, second ball after another brief delay, the former left a Norwell offering that knocked out off-stump.

Norwell quickly added the scalp of Ben Duckett, lbw, and returned late in the day to end a stand of 78 in 19 overs between Slater and Joe Clarke when the former edged to wicketkeeper Michael Burgess.

Notts 4th innings Partnerships

WktRunsPlayers
1st8BT SlaterH Hameed
2nd40BT SlaterBM Duckett
3rd4BT SlaterJM Clarke
4th27JM ClarkeLW James
5th10SJ MullaneyLW James
6th34TJ MooresLW James
7th6LA Patterson-WhiteLW James
8th6ZJ ChappellLA Patterson-White
9th1LJ FletcherLA Patterson-White
10th2LJ FletcherD Paterson

County Championship

Division 1
TeamMWLDPT
NOTTS431068
LANCS421157
WARKS421156
HANTS421153
YORKS412140
SOM404014
Division 2
TeamMWLDPT
ESSEX430177
GLOUC431064
DURH311140
NHNTS412138
SUR301227
GLAM403123
Division 3
TeamMWLDPT
KENT440083
MIDDX431067
WORCS422049
LEICS412143
DERBS412142
SUSS404018
Group 1
TeamMWLDPT
NOTTS10424151
WARKS10415145
DURH10325132
ESSEX10325129
WORCS10136109
DERBS1005572
Group 2
TeamMWLDPT
SOM10415148
HANTS10424145
GLOUC10532131
SUR10226123
LEICS10244111
MIDDX1027184
Group 3
TeamMWLDPT
LANCS10415150
YORKS10514149
GLAM10226127
NHNTS10334123
KENT1003797
SUSS1015494