Peter Moores became the first coach to ever lift the County Championship trophy with three different sides as Nottinghamshire were crowned in style with a crushing ten-wicket win over Warwickshire.
On a day charged with emotion at Trent Bridge, Moores added to his 2003 and 2006 triumphs with Sussex and a 2011 success with Lancashire after the Green and Golds dismissed their visitors for 133, before completing a simple and unbroken chase of 18 minutes after tea.
Fittingly, it fell to captain Haseeb Hameed, who ended as the side’s leading run-scorer with 1,258, to strike the winning four, a glorious cover drive which immediately followed Ben Slater reaching his own landmark of 1,000 Championship runs for the season.
It came after the Bears, who resumed on 7-3 following a chastening 3.1 overs at the very end of the second day, were dismissed in two sessions thanks to Brett Hutton, Dillon Pennington, and Mohammad Abbas all claiming three-wicket hauls apiece.
Hutton finished with 3/30, while Abbas, as metronomic as he has been all season, returned 3/18 from 14 overs, and Pennington produced a triple-wicket over to collect 3/52.
Will Young was the visitors’ only casualty before lunch, falling into a trap as he clipped a ball from Abbas straight into the hands of Lyndon James at square leg.
Warwickshire were 79 for four at the first break, having ground out some resistance in conditions that were suited to bowling, but it was after the lunch break that things swung decisively in the hosts’ favour.
Sam Hain was first to go in the afternoon, caught behind off a ball from James that left him enough to take the edge for 40, and put the hosts halfway through the Bears’ order.
If that was the flames being lit, it was Pennington who ensured they were thoroughly fanned, as he claimed three wickets in one over to put Notts on the precipice.
He dismissed Zen Malik leg before with a ball the batter could do little about before having Ed Barnard caught behind from a lifting delivery that took the glove.
With two high-quality wickets already in the bag, the seamer then benefitted from some good fortune as Michael Booth looked to have kept out his first ball before it rolled into the stumps.
As a consequence of the burst, Warwickshire were left reeling at eight down and still 12 runs in arrears, though they did manage to get their noses narrowly in front before Hutton finished them off.
With a ball coming up to 50 overs old, Hutton still found movement to pin Tazeem Ali leg before and bowl Nathan Gilchrist, who shouldered arms to a ball that swung away and then jagged back.
With that, the attack handed the stage back to Slater and Hameed to finish the job, and once the former had cracked successive fours to take the hosts halfway, it was near-enough job done.
He passed his four-figure milestone with a single off Gilchrist, before the season ended in stylish fashion, with Hameed smoothly driving four to kick-start the celebrations in earnest.
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