Nottinghamshire were held up by a century stand for the ninth wicket on the second day of their LV= County Championship match against Warwickshire at Edgbaston.
Having been bowled out in quick order, for 406 in their first innings, at the start of the day, Notts fought back with the ball, to reduce the home county to 227-8 but Chris Woakes, who made 91, and Chris Wright, who added 65, put on 108 together to take the Bears safely past the follow-on mark.
Andre Adams, with four for 67 and Peter Siddle, four for 91, were the pick of the Notts bowlers.
Late in the day Nottinghamshire then had to bat for 2 overs and sent Luke Fletcher out with Steven Mullaney and the pair added one without loss by stumps.
Earlier, Notts had lost their final three wickets for just 9 more runs, in 22 balls but at least ensured they picked up their fifth batting point before being dismissed for that score of 406.
For Siddle, and the rest of the attack, it was a tough day in the field. “The wicket flattened out nicely and we had a bit of hard work to do in the afternoon,” he said.
“But to get them all out in the day is good for us and we’ve finished day two with a nice lead so it’s not a bad position to be in.”
This was the fourth time that Siddle has claimed a four-wicket haul for Notts. “I’m not worried about what I’m doing,” said the Australian. “It’s what the team are doing and the performances over this past month have been outstanding. To get getting maximum bonus points on good wickets has shown what a good bowling line-up we’ve got and what attacking batsmen we have. Hopefully I can get my feet up tomorrow and watch the boys get us in a good position and then we can start to have a look where we are in the afternoon.”
Notts had begun the morning on 397 for seven, with Chris Read unbeaten on 15 overnight and Luke Fletcher taking guard for the first time, after Peter Siddle had fallen to the final ball of the opening day.
Fletcher (2) added a couple of singles but with one run needed for the 400, he chipped Chris Wright into the hands of Jonathan Trott at midwicket.
Maximum batting points were secured for the fifth time this season but then Andre Adams (2) perished in familiar fashion, punching Chris Woakes high into the waiting hands of Keith Barker at a deepish mid on.
Last man Harry Gurney (0) was bowled by Woakes, who finished with two for 84, leaving Read undefeated on 18.
Notts needed a response with the ball and again it was Peter Siddle that provided it. With 31 on the board he found the outside edge of William Porterfield’s (10) bat and Read was able to pouch his 900th first class catch.
Jonathan Trott arrived at the wicket for his first Championship match in weeks and immediately found himself engaged in a short-pitched barrage from Siddle.
A couple of pulled fours bore the hallmark of geniuine quality but Trott wasn’t able to go on for too much longer, coming unstuck against Adams.
The New Zealander let out a throaty roar for lbw at the end of one over but was clearly disappointed to find umpire Martin Bodenham turning down the appeal.
Adams’ next over was more fruitful though, as Bodenham found in the bowler’s favour as a full-pitched delivery seemed to catch Trott (23) in no-man’s land in front of all three.
Varun Chopra (33) had safely negotiated any minefields for the opening 18 overs of the innings and appeared well set, a measure then of how good Luke Fletcher’s yorker was to clatter into the base of the stumps.
Warwickshire had lost two wickets with the score on 76, in the space of 5 deliveries.
Sam Hain and Tim Ambrose added only 13 together before Adams struck again, with another leg before decision seeing off Ambrose (10).
Hain (21) also got a start but was undone by the third ball of a new Siddle spell, grazing it behind to Read.
Chris Woakes and Rikki Clarke took the fight back to Notts and shared an enterprising stand of 45 but the returning Adams made further inroads when he returned during the latter part of the middle session.
He had Clarke (24) easily caught at midwicket by Siddle and then also saw off the Keith Barker (15). The left-hander edged firmly to second slip, Samit Patel couldn’t hold on but a brilliant reflex catch by Riki Wessels, diving at full stretch, scooped up the rebound.
Jeetan Patel (24) joined the list of Warwickshire players to get into double figures and went on the offensive after tea, hitting Fletcher for a couple of powerful boundaries.
His brave counter-attack came to an end at the hands of Siddle – or to be strictly correct, at the hands of Samit Patel who took a stinging catch cleanly at second slip.
Woakes ran Siddle to third man to bring up a battling half century (106 balls 8x4) and found a reliable partner in Chris Wright.
The pair brought up a second batting partner and then safely negotiated the follow-on mark, albeit with a spot of luck. Wright came charging at Patel and missed the ball but it kept low and sped past Read for 3 byes.
On and on they went, even prospering against the second new ball and Wright also reached his 50, his second against Notts (71 balls 11x4).
The second new ball eventually did the damage, breaking the stand for the 9th wicket at 108 as Gurney, playing his 50th first class match, bowled Woakes (91) and Siddle then did the same in the following over to dislodge Wright (65).