Hameed & Duckett lead Notts fightback against Bears

Rothesay County Championship, Division One, Trent Bridge (day three)

Warwickshire 459: Barnard 165, Booth 70, Woakes 64; Tongue 5-124, James 3-79

Nottinghamshire 279 & 310-4: Hameed 115, Duckett 93; Webster 1-14

Notts (3 pts) lead Warwickshire (8 pts) by 130 runs with six wickets standing

Match scorecard

Ben Duckett's quest to demonstrate his wellbeing ahead of the international summer took another step forward as his 93 helped Nottinghamshire fight back after being made to follow-on by Warwickshire on day three at Trent Bridge.

Asked to bat again 180 behind after being bowled out for 279 in their first innings, County Champions Nottinghamshire were 130 in front when they closed on 310-4, England opener Duckett hitting 14 fours and a six in his 120-ball knock.

The left-hander, whose troubled Ashes series led him to cancel a lucrative IPL contract so he could focus on red-ball cricket at home, built on his 63 in the first innings and though he could not convert an otherwise impressive display into a century, he played a vital role in a 150-run partnership with Nottinghamshire skipper Haseeb Hameed (115), keeping his side in contention in a match that had threatened to slip away from them.

It had been a good recovery from the home side, if undermined by the late losses of Hameed and Jack Haynes, which will give Warwickshire fresh impetus going into the final day.

Hameed, who hit 14 fours in more than five hours at the crease, had earlier shared 118 for the first wicket with Ben Slater.

After turning the screw with three wickets in 10 balls at the end of Saturday's play, Warwickshire needed 33 deliveries at the start of day three to prise out the two more wickets needed to end Nottinghamshire's first innings.

Michael Booth removed Brett Hutton via first slip and would have added a five-for to his career-best with the bat had a leaping Alex Davies been able to take a chance offered by Lyndon James on 34. The wicketkeeper made immediate amends, though, as Josh Tongue succumbed to Chris Woakes's first delivery with the second new ball.

With the best part of two days still to play, there was an argument for Warwickshire not enforcing the follow-on but skipper Ed Barnard rejected that notion and sent his bowlers out again.

Yet they had a long wait to see much success as Nottinghamshire met the challenge with renewed resolve after being clearly second best throughout the first half of the contest.

Openers Hameed and Slater came through 22 overs to lunch unscathed and a marathon middle session of 34 overs saw only Slater leave the stage, the left-hander cursing a rare lapse in concentration as he slapped Beau Webster straight to backward point.

Slater's exit ushered in Duckett, eager to add to his first-innings 62 after a frustrating season's debut against Glamorgan two weeks ago yielded scores of just 25 and one. He took up where he had left off, collecting seven boundaries in reaching 40 at tea.

By then, after two and a half days of sunshine on a pitch that has held few demons at any stage, Warwickshire's bowlers were struggling to create chances. Jordan Thompson had been the one to command most respect, although moments of encouragement were rare.

Duckett passed fifty for the second time in the match with a crisp cut for four off Thompson and quickly lofted off-spinner Rob Yates over midwicket for his first six, before Hameed celebrated his first century of the season, having faced 215 balls and hit a dozen fours.

Dan Mousley's off-spin replaced that of Yates, almost bringing a wicket when Hameed, on 105, survived a difficult chance to Chris Woakes at mid-off.

Yet Mousley turned out to be the partnership-breaker as Duckett, while again playing some high-class shots, disappointed himself, cutting the spinner straight to Barnard at backward point with a hundred seemingly in his grasp. His first innings had ended similarly, with a somewhat wasteful shot.

Warwickshire swiftly backed it up. Barnard bowled Hameed before Booth removed Jack Haynes for a duck. Had Kyle Verreynne been taken, rather than missed, at second slip with the new ball, the visitors would certainly have had their tails up.

Report by ECB Reporters' Network, supported by Rothesay.