WHAM BAMB! Bears win real Barnstormer

ASUBLIME century from Ed Barnard and vital knocks from Kai Smith and Michael Booth led Warwickshire to an exciting nail-biting one-wicket win - won witha six from Ethan Bamber! - over Durham in a Rothesay County Championship thriller.

- By ECB REPORTERS NETWORK

Warwickshire started well in the morning as Alex Davies looked in good touch for his 50, but his departure led to a mini-collapse before lunch, with the visitors losing four wickets for nine runs at the hands of Ben Raine and Matthew Potts.

However, the Bears had the perfect blend of experience and youth in the form of Smith and Barnard, who combined brilliantly for a partnership worth 147 to well and truly take the wind out of Durham's sails.

There was yet another twist though as the hosts bounced back after tea to remove the pair, with Brendan Doggett orchestrating the fightback to set up a grandstand finale and it all went down to the final pair, but Bamber and Vishwa Fernando remained calm and composed to see the visitors over the line as they reached their target of 339.

Resuming on 12 without loss, Alex Davies and Rob Yates had a big task ahead of them and Davies started well as he hit Potts for back-to-back boundaries. However, at the other end Yates didn’t last long as Raine bowled him for three, with the opener misjudging one that nipped back and as a result it sent his off-stump flying.

Hamza Shaikh then survived a run out appeal after there was confusion between the wickets for the England Under-19s man and Davies. The Bears skipper continued to look good with a pair of boundaries from a Raine over including a clever cut shot.

Davies then reached his half-century off 73 balls to give his side a good start in their pursuit of 339, but he then departed without adding to his score as the impressive Raine got him LBW.