Bears beat Somerset by 118 runs at Edgbaston to clinch Division One success; Nottinghamshire complete a five-wicket victory over Yorkshire; Kent win Division Three title with a dramatic two-wicket win over Middlesex
Friday 24 September 2021 17:26, UK
Warwickshire have won the County Championship for the first time since 2012 after a 118-run demolition of Somerset at Edgbaston.
The Bears - 179-1 overnight - declared on 294-3 with a lead of 272 runs thanks to a brilliant, unbeaten 132 off 168 balls from Rob Yates.
That left the hosts with 79 overs to take the 10 wickets they needed to grab the silverware from the grasp of Lancashire, whose own title hopes were boosted by a tight victory over Hampshire on Thursday, and they got the job done with 27 overs to spare as Somerset were dismissed for 154.
Warwickshire grabbed one wicket before lunch as Tim Bresnan snaffled a sharp edge offered by Tom Lammonby (11) to his left at slip off the bowling of Danny Briggs - the spinner claiming his 300th first-class wicket.
The match swung dramatically in their favour in the afternoon session, which ended with Somerset on 102-7 at tea with 40 overs still remaining.
The first of those six wickets to fall was that of Ben Green (18), who snicked Bresnan behind, before Azhar Ali (three) steered Chris Woakes to Sam Hain at second slip.
Somerset slipped to 56-4 when skipper Tom Abell fell for a 21-ball duck to Craig Miles, who deepened the inroads by finding the edge of Lewis Goldworthy's bat - ending a knock of 31 off 44 balls.
Liam Norwell cleaned out Steven Davies (13) with a perfect yorker and the stumps took another pummelling as Woakes bowled Craig Overton middle-and-off.
The respite provided by tea proved brief - Woakes relentless as he cleaned out Jack Leach for nine with a ripper of a delivery that knocked off-stump out of the ground.
Lewis Gregory (31) and Josh Davey (15 not out) held Warwickshire up with a ninth-wicket stand of 43, but Miles had Gregory caught behind before Norwell applied the finishing touch, with last man Jack Brooks (4) taken at gully by Bears skipper Will Rhodes.
Nottinghamshire completed a five-wicket victory over Yorkshire in the final match of their Division One programme after half-centuries from Ben Slater (79 not out) and Ben Duckett took them to a winning second-innings score of 174-5. Notts vs Yorkshire scorecard
But after wrapping up their own match seven overs into the afternoon session, they were left waiting for the outcome of Warwickshire's match against Somerset to know whether their title challenge would be extended by a week.
If Warwickshire had failed to win, Nottinghamshire would have finished second in the table and thereby earned a trip to Lord's to compete for the Bob Willis Trophy, starting on Tuesday.
Kent won the LV= Insurance County Championship Division Three title with a dramatic two-wicket win over Middlesex at Canterbury. Kent vs Middlesex scorecard
The home side began day four on 275-5, needing another 98 to win, and successfully reached 375-8 despite being in trouble early on after Toby Roland-Jones brilliantly ran out Tawanda Muyeye for 89.
Kent also lost Darren Stevens for 14, before Marcus O'Riordan and Grant Stewart revived them with a stand of 48.They secured the title when Matt Milnes steered Toby Roland-Jones to third man, giving them 19 points and Middlesex three, leaving the visitors as runners-up.
In Division Two, Ollie Pope hit his highest first-class score of 274 as Surrey and Glamorgan fought out a high-scoring draw on a lifeless pitch at the Kia Oval. Surrey vs Glamorgan scorecard
Pope and Hashim Amla (163) shared a gargantuan third-wicket partnership of 362 as Surrey totalled 722-4 declared in reply to Glamorgan's 672-6 declared.
Ben Foakes finished on 53 not out, while all 11 Glamorgan players were called on to bowl as the match drifted to its inevitable conclusion.
