RESULT
Nottingham, August 16 - 17, 2010, County Championship Division One
(f/o) 121 & 152

Notts won by an innings and 55 runs

Report

Sidebottom ignites Nottinghamshire's title push

Nottinghamshire stepped closer to regaining the County Championship title they last won in 2005 with a ruthless two-day victory over desperate Warwickshire

Nottinghamshire 328 beat Warwickshire 121 and 152 by an innings and 55 runs
Scorecard
Nottinghamshire stepped closer to regaining the County Championship title they last won in 2005 with a ruthless two-day victory over desperate Warwickshire. It leaves Yorkshire under pressure to get the better of Durham at Chester-le-Street and Somerset needing a victory over Essex at Colchester if Chris Read's side are not to open up a clear lead at the top of Division One.
Warwickshire, whose return to Division Two looks almost inevitable now, were bowled out twice in the day after Nottinghamshire claimed the extra half-hour. Their principal destroyer was Ryan Sidebottom, whose eight wickets in the day will do him no harm in ongoing discussions with the county over a new contract.
The 32-year-old England bowler, whose current arrangements at Trent Bridge run out at the end of this season, is looking for a new deal that compensates him for the likelihood that his central contract with the ECB will not be renewed.
Other counties, including Sussex, are watching developments with interest and, while Nottinghamshire are keen to reach an agreement that suits them as well, Sidebottom left his supporters in no doubt that his commitment to the county is as strong as ever.
Sidebottom took 3 for 37 as Warwickshire, 13 without loss overnight, collapsed to 121 all out in their first innings, their last nine wickets falling for 68 in an abject display that could not be explained away purely by the fact that the Trent Bridge swing factor came into play.
In the event, it was Andre Adams who upstaged Sidebottom initially, the former New Zealand allrounder producing a masterclass in swing bowling, which began with him bowling a remarkable 53 deliveries without conceding a run while taking three wickets in the process.
With the ball still getting purchase off a pitch that was offering bounce for good measure, Adams was virtually unplayable from the Radcliffe Road End. He claimed his first success when a frustrated Darren Maddy tried to cut him for four only to be caught low down at first slip, then saw off Jim Troughton and Varun Chopra leg before in successive overs.
Four of the next five wickets fell to catches behind the wicket or in the slips, with the exception of Ateeq Javid, the 18-year-old in his sixth first-class match, who was bowled offering no stroke to a ball from Paul Franks. Adams wrapped the innings up when Sidebottom took a tumbling catch at mid-off to dismiss Boyd Rankin, leaving Chris Woakes, on 19 not out, as Warwickshire's joint top scorer, although Rankin's 13 was a career-best.
If Sidebottom played second fiddle in the first innings, however, he roared back in style with 5 for 35 as Warwickshire subsided to 152 all out following on. The figures were his best for Nottinghamshire since he took 5 for 22 against Kent in August 2006 and rewarded bowling of the highest quality.
Trailing by 207 on first innings, Warwickshire looked to be making a better stab at building a respectable total, reaching 87 for 1 as Chopra completed his first Championship half-century since his winter move from Essex but, after Adams had taken the second of his three second-innings wickets when Darren Maddy spooned a catch to mid-wicket, Sidebottom produced two brilliant yorkers in the space of three deliveries to bowl Chopra and Rikki Clarke.
He then had Jim Troughton caught behind off a thin edge before another yorker trapped Tim Ambrose first ball as the former England wicketkeeper bagged a pair. He completed his five-for when Keith Barker edged a low catch to wicketkeeper Chris Read, who now has 51 victims for the season.
Poor Javid suffered the embarrassment of being bowled without offering a stroke for the second time as Adams picked up his seventh wicket of the day.
At 132 for 8 when the day's allocated overs ran out, Nottinghamshire inevitably claimed the extra half-hour. With Woakes again showing some measure of resolve, it looked for a while as if Warwickshire might at least take the game into a third day.
But Franks uprooted Imran Tahir's middle stump with the fifth of the additional eight overs and completed the job with one over remaining as Woakes edged to David Hussey at second slip.
Warwickshire's dressing room door remained closed long after the players left the field and director of cricket Ashley Giles will find himself under pressure after seeing his side fail to win a single batting bonus point in six of their 13 matches.

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County Championship Division One

TEAMMWLDPT
NOTTS16754214
SOM16628214
YORKS16628203
LANCS16538182
DURH16538173
WARKS16691166
HANTS16367157
KENT16376151
ESSEX16268126
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