Lancashire enjoyed a strong opening day to their visit to Edgbaston, as they bowled out Warwickshire for 219 to give them the upper hand in their fight to avoid relegation from Division One.
Tom Bailey (4-52) played a key role in the Warwickshire demolition, while Kyle Jarvis (1-54) took his first-class tally to 50 wickets with the scalp of Ian Bell. Sam Hain (52) hit a vital half-century to give the hosts a respectable total, but Jordan Clark (3-20) continued to take key wickets, including former England batsman Jonathan Trott, as the Red Rose took a huge step towards avoiding three successive relegations.
The visitors then consolidated their advantage by reaching close of play unscathed on 14/0, knowing that a draw would be sufficient to secure their first-division status. Lancashire entered the final match of the season with a six-point cushion over Warwickshire and their second bonus point confirmed that a seven-point draw would deny the Bears the opportunity to overtake Lancashire, which would leave the Bears in a worrying position, especially if Hampshire hammer home their strong showing from the first day after they made 370/6 against Durham.
Lancashire made an excellent start to the day on a green surface in overcast conditions when Bailey struck with the fourth ball of the match, trapping Ian Westwood lbw for no score. Alex Mellor led the Warwickshire counterpunch with a series of well-timed drives down the ground during his eye-catching knock of 27, but his innings failed to develop into a long-term threat for Lancashire, as he edged a drive off Bailey to Liam Livingstone at first slip on 43/2.
Warwickshire were hopeful of a third-wicket revival between two of England's most successful batsmen in recent times and Bell and Trott certainly showed initial signs of their class with flowing shots through the covers. However, Trott - who reached 1,000 runs for the season for the seventh time in his career - started to get into a rut, particularly when Simon Kerrigan was introduced, and pressure started to build at both ends.
Kerrigan's sharp turn and Clark's variation kept both Bell and Trott (25) guessing and eventually an unplayable ball from Clark did for Trott, who edged an away-swinging delivery behind to Steven Croft after the experienced duo had added 37 runs together in an attritional partnership. Warwickshire's plight continued after lunch, although Bell looked to get his side moving after a sedated return from the interval, as he hit back-to-back boundaries off Bailey.
Bell threatened to take the match away from the visitors, but Jarvis secured 50 Championship wickets for the second season in a row when he had the Warwickshire captain out lbw for 37 with his third ball after lunch. After removing the home skipper, Jarvis then played an instrumental role in the field in the next over, running out Tim Ambrose for a four-ball duck to reduce Warwickshire to 105/5.
The Zimbabwean's direct-hit saw Ambrose fall comfortably shy of his ground, although the Warwickshire wicketkeeper was slow setting off for a single from the non-strikers end after Hain's call. It was therefore crucial that Hain kicked on after these two quick wickets, as he went on to achieve only his second fifty of the summer.
The last time that Hain reached a half-century, he converted it into 135 against Hampshire in July, but it was not the sort of day or pitch on which batsmen could easily prosper. Clark backed up the wicket of Trott by removing his namesake Rikki Clarke (16) with the third ball of a new spell, forcing the Warwickshire veteran to swivel in his crease towards the leg-side, only to find himself hit on the front pad dead in front of middle stump at 142/6.
Clark's second wicket in four overs confirmed two bonus points for Lancashire, a big step in their bid to avoid relegation and they continued to enjoy a strong showing with the ball after capitalising on the opportunity to put Warwickshire into bat. Hain reached tea on 46 after hitting three fours in the penultimate over of the session, progressing to fifty in 109 deliveries shortly after the resumption.
Hain and Keith Barker resisted Lancashire's post-tea onslaught with confidence, adding 40 runs for the seventh wicket either side of the break, but Luke Procter (1-39) claimed a deserved breakthrough at 182/7. The key wicket of Hain (52) came when he became the fourth Warwickshire batsman to be given out lbw, playing on the back foot to Procter, who was rewarded for his economical performance in the first session against the likes of Trott and Bell.
Barker (22) soon followed when he had his middle stump pegged back by Clark, who finished with figures of 3-20 from nine overs. Jeetan Patel (26) took Warwickshire beyond 200 with three quickfire boundaries in the 74th over, but Bailey returned with the second new ball to wrap up the innings with four wickets to his name.
After forcing Chris Wright (4) to edge behind, Bailey then had Patel held on the cover boundary by Haseeb Hameed, as he finished with 4-52. Hameed and Rob Jones (2*) then negated a potentially unnerving nine overs before the close in the fading light, although England-bound Hameed (4) was offered a life on 1 when he was shelled by Clarke at second slip with a routine edge off Barker in the fifth over.
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