WARWICKSHIRE head coach Ian Westwood says his team were ‘outskilled with the ball’ after they were bowled out for just 93 at Edgbaston.
The Bears’ seam bowlers did their best to fight back against Nottinghamshire on day two of the Midlands counties’ Championship match.
But Notts ended the day on 204 for five, with Warwickshire bowlers sharing the wickets around.
Westwood told the county’s official website: “They bowled with a lot of skill and discipline and utilised the good bowling conditions really well. We just couldn’t get a partnership together.
“We had tough conditions to bat in, but the conditions are no excuse, we’ve been outskilled with the ball.
“Then our batting display was compounded by those first 15 overs with the ball when we probably tried a little bit too hard to make inroads and leaked runs at five or six an over which you can’t do.
“We’ve shown a lot of fight and the lads stuck at it really well in the session and tried to drag it back, but we’ve got a lot to do.
“We haven’t been at our best and are behind in the game but a couple of quick wickets in the morning and we’re right back in it.”
Fast bowlers Fergus O’Neill and Brett Hutton put Notts in command.
Aussie import O’Neill took five for 19 and Hutton five for 38 as the home side fell to 93 all out.
Only Sam Hain (43, from 81 balls) offered sustained resistance as the visitors made up for time lost on the first day when just 56 balls were bowled.
Notts then advanced to 204 for five by the close of the second day with captain Haseeb Hameed carrying his team’s reply with an unbeaten 75 (136 balls).
When they passed Warwickshire’s total for the loss of just one wicket, a mighty lead beckoned, but the home bowlers struck back with four wickets in the last session.
Warwickshire resumed on 34 for two, then scored 58 for five in 24.2 overs before lunch against an attack that applied relentless pressure. Overnight pair Hamza Shaikh (22, 60 balls) and Hain took the score to 60, but five wickets then fell for 31 runs in 13.5 overs.
Shaikh left a gap between bat and pad, and Hutton found it to bowl him. Dan Mousley did the same, and O’Neill powered an in-ducker onto off-stump. When Ed Barnard drove hard at the Aussie, Freddie McCann held a screamer at second slip.
Hain, a habitual plunderer of Nottinghamshire with an average of 59.7 against them across the formats, batted with as much assurance as possible in tough conditions but then copped a ferocious in-ducker from O’Neill and fell lbw. After another rapid delivery ripped out Michael Booth’s off-stump, O’Neill lunched on 12.4-4-19-4.
From 92 for seven at lunch, Warwickshire declined to 93 all out as both bowlers completed five-fors. O’Neill’s came when Ethan Bamber edged behind. Hutton’s followed with wickets in successive balls as Kai Smith skied a slog looking for quick runs, and Vishwa Fernando missed a straight one.
Lady Luck then shone on Nottinghamshire as their reply began in the game’s first two hours of sunshine. Hameed and Ben Slater (40, 40 balls) took advantage to raise 50 in 67 balls and 81 in 87 before Slater was lbw to Bamber on the stroke of tea.
In the last session, the Bears’ bowlers struck sporadically. McCann nicked Fernando behind, Joe Clarke edged Booth to third slip, and Josh Haynes fell lbw to Olly Hannon-Dalby, providing the Yorkshireman’s 332nd wicket in his 100th first-class match for the Bears.
Kyle Verreynne contributed a punchy 29 (44) before top-edging a pull at Booth to deep square leg, but Hameed’s concentration was total and his true captain’s innings kept his side on top.
