County Championship: Warwickshire demolish Somerset to be crowned champions

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The Bears beat Somerset 118 runs at Edgbaston to clinch Division One success; Nottinghamshire completes a five-wicket victory over Yorkshire; Kent wins Division Three title with a spectacular two-wicket victory over Middlesex

Liam Norwell (right) of Warwickshire celebrates with Captain Will Rhodes after taking the wicket that sealed the 2021 county championship title (PA Images)

Warwickshire won the County Championship for the first time since 2012 after a 118-race demolition of Somerset at Edgbaston.

The Bears – 179-1 overnight – declared 294-3 with a 272 run lead thanks to a brilliant undefeated 132 of 168 balls from Rob Yates.

That left the hosts with 79 overs to take the 10 wickets they needed to snatch the silverware from the hands of Lancashire, whose own title hopes were boosted by a tight win over Hampshire on Thursday, and they got the job done with 27 overs of surplus. like Somerset they were fired by 154.

Warwickshire grabbed a wicket before lunch when Tim Bresnan hit a sharp edge offered by Tom Lammonby (11) to his left in the bowling alley slip of Danny Briggs, the spinner claiming his 300th first class spot.

The game swung dramatically in their favor in the afternoon session, which ended with Somerset 102-7 at tea with 40 overs to go.

The first of those six wickets to fall was Ben Green (18), who pushed Bresnan from behind, before Azhar Ali (three) drove Chris Woakes to Sam Hain on the second slide.

Somerset fell to 56-4 when captain Tom Abell fell in love with a 21-ball duck off Craig Miles, who deepened forays by finding Lewis Goldworthy’s edge of the bat, ending a 31-for-44 knock.

Liam Norwell cleared Steven Davies (13) with a perfect yorker and the stumps took another beating when Woakes threw Craig Overton in the middle and out.

The respite provided by the tea was brief: he wakes relentlessly while cleaning Jack Leach for nine with a ripper from a delivery that dislodged from the floor.

Lewis Gregory (31) and Josh Davey (15 not out) held Warwickshire to a position of 43 in the ninth wicket, but Miles had Gregory caught before Norwell applied the finishing touch, with last man Jack Brooks (4) taken in ravine by Bears captain Will Rhodes.

Nottinghamshire completed a five wicket victory over Yorkshire in the final game of their Division One program after half a century of Ben Slater (79 not out) and Ben Duckett led them to a winning score in the second inning of 174-5. Notts vs Yorkshire scorecard

Chris Woakes of Warwickshire celebrates after taking the wicket from Azhar Ali on the last day at Edgbaston

But after wrapping up their own match seven overs in the afternoon session, they waited for the outcome of Warwickshire’s match against Somerset to see if their title challenge would drag on for a week.

Had Warwickshire failed to win, Nottinghamshire would have finished second in the table and thus earned a trip to Lord’s to compete for the Bob Willis Trophy, starting Tuesday.

Kent won the LV = Insurance County Insurance County Championship Division Three title with a spectacular two-wicket victory Middlesex in Canterbury. Kent vs Middlesex scorecard

The home team started the fourth day at 275-5, needing another 98 to win, and successfully reached 375-8 despite being in trouble early on after Toby Roland-Jones brilliantly outscored Tawanda Muyeye by 89.

They secured the title when Matt Milnes led Toby Roland-Jones to third man, giving them 19 points and Middlesex three, leaving the visitors as runners-up.

In Division Two, Ollie Pope achieved his highest first-class score of 274 as Surrey and Glamorgan fought a high-scoring tie on a lifeless field at the Kia Oval. Surrey vs Glamorgan scorecard

Pope and Hashim Amla (163) shared a mammoth third-field partnership of 362, as Surrey totaled 722-4 declared in response to 672-6 declared by Glamorgan.

Ben Foakes finished with 53 and no out, while all 11 Glamorgan players were called up to bowl as the match came to an inevitable conclusion.

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