LV= County Championship Division One, Edgbaston (Day Four) |
Warwickshire 292 & 327-9 Dec: Davis 121; Williams 4-70 |
Lancashire 286 & 329-6: Wells 175*, Jones 66; Hannon-Dalby 3-77 |
Lancashire (21 points) beat Warwickshire (5 points) by four wickets |
scorecard |
Lancashire strengthened their position among the County Championship Division One leaders after a perfectly executed chase gave them a four-wicket win over Warwickshire at Edgbaston.
Luke Wells led with a superb 175 unbeaten as the Red Rose, who had set a target of 329 in a day and four overs, went 329-6 with 24 balls to go.
They were in trouble at 93-4 but Wells, who hit 22 fours and a six from 280, struck beautifully alongside Rob Jones (66) in a fifth wicket count of 162 in 45 overs.
Lancashire’s third win of the season keeps them within reach of Division One leaders Surrey at mid-season.
Reigning champions Warwickshire, meanwhile, are struggling to retain their title with just one win in seven games and sit too close to the other end of the table to be comfortable.
Lancashire went on to five unbeaten in the final morning and needed the highest total of the game to win.
They added just 14 more before Olly Hannon-Dalby scored twice in an over. Keaton Jennings came up on the third slip and three balls later Josh Bohannon fell to his knees.
When Steven Croft was tricked into driving a wide ball by Henry Brookes and advanced on wicketkeeper Michael Burgess, the Red Rose was up 53-3.
Dane Vilas’ frustrating match with the racquet then continued. When he was caught when he appeared to miss hitting the ball in the first innings, his second shot ended in a different but equally annoying way when he ran out while reversing.
A well-timed straight drive from Wells was diverted by Liam Norwell to the stumps at the non-striker’s end – unlucky for the Lancashire captain but the big pacesetter deserves to come down quickly to parry the ball onto the stumps.
This was the only wicket to fall in the afternoon session as Wells and Jones combined to take their side to 167-4 at tea. At this point, with 162 runs or six wickets needed from at least 35 overs, all outcomes were possible.
On a flattening pitch, Wells and Jones played with increasing freedom to lead Lancashire into the last 20 overs that required 91.
Jones fell in pursuit of his 11th foursome, caught well by Alex Davies, but the wicket failed to stem the flow as George Balderson (33) helped Wells seal the win with a measured partnership of 70 in 12 overs.
Report provided by the ECB Reporters Network.