Bears wrap up huge win in the Bob Willis Trophy final
Warwickshire completed an emphatic innings and 199 runs victory over Lancashire to wrap up a dominant Bob Willis Trophy success on the fourth day at Lord’s.
The Bears claimed the final four wickets they required inside 70 minutes to bowl Lancashire out for 241 and begin trophy-winning celebrations for the second time in a week.
Warwickshire, the county Bob Willis proudly represented for 13 years, lifted the LV= Insurance County Championship last Friday after pipping Lancashire for the title, but this contest was all one-way traffic.
Lancashire never recovered after crashing to 12-6 on the opening morning, eventually scrambling to 78, before Warwickshire piled on 518 on the back of centuries from captain Will Rhodes and Rob Yates.
Lancashire made a better fist of it with the bat second time round, headlined by 65 from young opener George Balderson on his first-ever trip to London, but after conceding a 440-run lead their main priority was avoiding the indignity of the largest defeat in their 156-year history of playing first-class cricket.
Late hitting from the tail at least ensured they progressed past the innings and 220 run loss at the hands of West Indies in 1950.
Teenage debutant Manraj Johal, from Oldbury, claimed the first wicket of the day when he slipped a full delivery past Luke Wood and into his leg stump for a breezy 28.
Rob Jones was then lbw propping forward to Danny Briggs who then had Jack Blatherwick stumped as he attempted to swing a second six of the over into the stands.
Tom Bailey supplied some lusty hitting to ensure Lancashire also narrowly also avoided their biggest defeat against a county opposition – an innings and 220-run loss to Yorkshire in 1938 – before the next ball a top-edge was expertly pouched by keeper Michael Burgess running away towards fine leg.
Left-arm spinner Danny Briggs finished with 3-58 while Liam Norwell, who claimed the final wicket, returned 3-60.
