Warwickshire have no answer as Wells leads run chase
Lancashire strengthened their position among the LV=Insurance County Championship Division One leaders after a perfectly-executed run chase brought them a four-wicket victory over Warwickshire at Edgbaston.
Luke Wells led the way with a superb unbeaten 175 as the Red Rose, set a target of 329 in a day and four overs, reached 329-5 with 24 balls to spare.
They were in jeopardy at 93-4 but Wells, who hit 22 fours and a six from 280 balls, batted beautifully alongside Rob Jones (66, 138 balls) in a fifth-wicket stand of 162 in 45 overs.
Lancashire’s third win of the season keeps them within reach of Division One leaders Surrey at the halfway point of the season. Reigning champions Warwickshire, meanwhile, with just one win from seven games, have it all to do to retain their title and sit too close to the opposite end of the table for comfort.
Warwickshire first team coach Mark Robinson said: “Credit to Lancashire and to Luke Wells, they played really well. We know the wickets go flatter and flatter here and hoped there might be a bit more variable bounce but it was few and far between and we just couldn’t break that partnership that we needed to do.
“We declared because we knew we needed the time to bowl them out. We took the aggressive option because we believe that, if you do that, more times than not it comes off, but this time it didn’t.”
