Barnard & Burgess tons help Bears recover at Essex
Vitality County Championship Division One, Cloud County Ground, Chelmsford (day one)
Warwickshire 308-6: Barnard 115*, Burgess 105*; Snater 2-42, Cook 2-75
Essex: Yet to bat
Warwickshire (2pts) lead Essex (2pts) by 308 runs with four wickets left.
An unbroken double-century seventh-wicket stand between Ed Barnard and Michael Burgess rescued Warwickshire from 104-6 and put them in a commanding position against Essex.
Barnard took his tally in his last four County Championship Division One innings to 336 runs with an unbeaten 115 while Burgess added 105.
Essex were in control when they claimed five wickets before lunch – four to catches by Simon Harmer – but they toiled for the last two sessions as Warwickshire finished on 308-6.
Warwickshire decided to bat but Essex pace bowler Sam Cook needed just 13 balls to take his 26th wicket of the season as Rob Yates edged to Harmer at second slip.
Cook bowled another 44 balls before claiming his only other wicket, trapping number seven Jacob Bethell lbw.
In between Warwickshire slipped to 64-5. Shane Snater grabbed two wickets in the space of six balls, inducing Will Rhodes to a thick edge to Harmer before removing the off-stump of Sam Hain.
Harmer’s third catch of the innings came off his own bowling to oust Dan Mousley.
Warwickshire captain Alex Davies had remained resolute at the other end but eventually departed for a 60-ball 19 when Harmer pulled off a brilliant one-handed catch to his right to give Jamie Porter a wicket.
Barnard swept Harmer for two fours in three balls, but otherwise settled into an obdurate sixth-wicket stand with Bethell.
The partnership steadied the ship for 20 overs while adding 40 runs before Bethell played down the wrong line and was Cook’s second victim. It was the last wicket of the day.
Burgess and Barnard both survived dropped catches. Barnard was on 17 when missed by Michael Pepper off Cook while Burgess was floored at bat-pad and then off a top-edge on 19 and 39.
And the pair punished those misses by putting on an unbroken 204-run stand by stumps.
Report supplied by ECB Reporters' Network.
