At Stumps on Day 2: Middlesex 39-1 v Warwickshire 342 all out
Laurie Evans narrowly missed out on a gritty hundred but Warwickshire’s long batting line-up hauled them up to 342 all out on the second day of the LV= County Championship match at Lord’s.
On a day when bad light and rain cut the action to just 67.3 overs, Middlesex only had time to reach 39 for one in reply before bad weather closed in again to prevent any more play after the final stoppage of a chilly and blustery day at 5.07pm.
Warwickshire resumed on 148 for three, following a rain-shortened opening day, with Evans on 41 and Jonathan Trott on 44.
Trott was soon out for 45, caught behind off a beauty from Toby Roland-Jones, who was then distinctly unlucky not to add the scalp of Tim Ambrose in a testing first spell of the day.
Roland-Jones, working up a good pace from the Nursery End on a pitch still offering the quicker bowlers some bounce and movement, beat Ambrose numerous times and also saw him edge just short of second slip on 10.
Ambrose rode his good fortune to reach 20, before he was held by Ollie Rayner at second slip cutting at Neil Dexter’s medium pace while Evans reached lunch on 82 with Warwickshire battling to 216 for five.
Rikki Clarke was run out for 15 early in the afternoon session, failing to complete a second run after Evans had forced a ball from James Harris away through point, and Middlesex seemed to have gained the upper hand when Evans, having fought his way to 98 from 209 balls with 15 fours, drove over-ambitiously at Steven Finn, armed with the second new ball, and was bowled.
From 253 for seven, however, Warwickshire rallied again with Jeetan Patel joining Keith Barker in an aggressive eighth wicket stand eventually worth 72 in 15 overs.
Patel struck Rayner’s off spin for three sixes before being caught at the wicket for 37 as he tried to flip to leg, while left-hander Barker also smeared Rayner for a legside six in his 37.
When Barker was bowled by a full delivery from Roland-Jones the end came quickly for Warwickshire’s resilient first innings as last man Boyd Rankin was bowled for 2 having a swing at Rayner. Finn finished with 4 for 84.
----------
Warwickshire 342 all out v Middlesex at tea on Day 2
Laurie Evans just missed out on a gritty hundred but Warwickshire’s long batting line-up hauled them to 342 all out by tea on day two of the LV= County Championship match at Lord’s.
Warwickshire resumed on 148 for three, following a rain-shortened opening day, with Evans on 41 and Jonathan Trott on 44. Trott was soon out for 45, caught behind off a beauty from Toby Roland-Jones, who then distinctly unlucky not to add the scalp of Tim Ambrose in a testing first spell of the day.
Ambrose rode his good fortune to reach 20, before he was held at second slip cutting at Neil Dexter’s medium pace and Evans reached lunch on 82 with Warwickshire 216 for five.
Rikki Clarke was run out for 15 early in the afternoon session and Middlesex seemed to have gained the upper hand when Evans, on 98 from 209 balls with 15 fours, drove over-ambitiously at Steven Finn, armed with the second new ball, and was bowled.
From 253 for seven, however, Warwickshire rallied again with Jeetan Patel joining Keith Barker in an aggressive eighth wicket stand eventually worth 72 in 15 overs.
Patel hit Ollie Rayner’s off spin for three sixes before being caught at the wicket for 37 as he tried to flip to leg, while Barker also smeared Rayner for a legside six in his 37.
When Barker was bowled by a full delivery from Roland-Jones the end came quickly for Warwickshire’s resilient first innings as last man Boyd Rankin was bowled for 2 having a swing at Rayner.
----------
Warwickshire 216-5 v Middlesex at lunch on Day 2
Laurie Evans stood firm with 82 not out as Warwickshire struggled to repel Middlesex’s pace attack on the second morning of the LV= County Championship Division One match at Lord’s.
Evans had added 96 with Jonathan Trott for Warwickshire’s fourth wicket, but the pair were split in day two’s second over when Trott was undone by a wicked lifter from Toby Roland-Jones that he edged behind.
Trott had added only a single to his overnight 44 but Warwickshire, who resumed on 148 for three after a rain-shortened opening day, were bolstered by Evans’s determination – and by some good fortune for Tim Ambrose.
Ambrose was repeatedly beaten outside his off stump by the impressive Roland-Jones, and also edged him just short of second slip on 10. James Harris, who replaced Roland-Jones at the Nursery End, was another bowler not to enjoy much luck against Ambrose.
On 20, however, Ambrose tried to cut away a ball from medium pacer Neil Dexter which bounced a bit more than he expected and he edged to Ollie Rayner at second slip.
Evans, pulling James Franklin for four in successive overs from the left-arm seamer, was playing more expansively by lunch, and had included 14 fours in his 176-ball stay. Rikki Clarke, his latest partner, was on 5.
