EDGBASTON

(Day three of four)

Essex, 38-2, trail Warwickshire, 154 (Danish Kaneria 6-48), by 116 runs.

Lunch

At last, after the washout of the first two days, play finally got underway under bright skies at noon with 12 overs having been lost on the day, with play extended til 6.30. Warwickshire decided to take first use of a pitch that might have offered the Essex seam bowlers more encouragement after it had been under cover for two days, but the home side read the conditions correctly. There was no great movement off the seam or in the air for the visiting attack.

Warwickshire did lose an early wicket, in the fourth over, when Graham Napier had Navdeep Poonia leg before pushing forward. Darren Maddy joined Ian Westwood to add an unbeaten 74 in 20 overs for the second wicket. Westwood went into lunch with 40 from 74 balls, with five fours, while the Warwickshire captain ended the session with 27 from 58 balls. Unusually for a Championship match, the umpires directed that the creases at each end of half-a-dozen pitches on one side of the square should be covered with black fabric covering to enable the fieldsmen to stand up properly on areas that were still very damp underfoot. None of the Essex team had any problems with their footing during the 90-minute morning session, lunch being delayed until 1.30.

Tea

In a dramatic afternoon session, Warwickshire lost their last nine wickets in just over two hours for only 74 runs, Danish Kaneria being their chief tormentor with his sixth five-wicket haul of the summer. He finished with six for 48.

Warwickshire’s collapse began with the very first ball after lunch, when Ian Westwood was caught at first slip chasing a ball from Chris Wright that he could easily have left. Darren Maddy and Jonathan Trott added 37 in 12 overs together for the third wicket, before the latter carelessly shovelled a catch to mid-on off the bowling of Kaneria.

From that point on, it was a procession, as Jim Troughton got an edge to one that he might have left, Maddy was beaten on the back foot by extra pace as he worked to leg, and Ian Salisbury lbw. Neil Carter was held at backward point off the persevering Wright, Chris Woakes became another lbw victim for Kaneria, and Boyd Rankin, making his first appearance of the season for Warwickshire after being out with injury, was last out when Wright uprooted his middle stump. It was Warwickshire’s lowest total of the season, on a pitch that could not be blamed, even though Kaneria at times got some sharp turn.

Close

In a truncated final session, where a shower prevented any play between 5.12pm and 6pm, Essex did not find batting at all easy against a Warwickshire attack that obtained swing and bounce. Chris Woakes was impressive with the new ball, swinging it out off a good length, and it was no surprise when Jason Gallian edged a good one that left him low to third slip, where Ian Westwood took a useful catch.

Boyd Rankin, the giant Irishman making his county debut for Warwickshire, asked some awkward questions with his steepling bounce, and he eventually claimed his first wicket for the club when Varun Chopra edged him to second slip.

With only 84 overs remaining - the match ends at 5pm to enable Essex to drive to London for Saturday’s Friends Provident Trophy final - this rain-ravaged encounter will be nothing more than a quest for further bonus points on the final day, unless the captains surprise everyone with some contrivance.