Matches (31)
IPL (3)
Women's Tri-Series (SL) (1)
WCL 2 (1)
County DIV1 (3)
County DIV2 (4)
Women's One-Day Cup (4)
HKG T20 (1)
PSL (1)
T20 Women’s County Cup (13)
RESULT
Group 1, Chelmsford, May 20 - 23, 2021, County Championship
166 & 66/1

Match drawn

Report

Danny Briggs, Will Rhodes guard against drama as rain has final say at Chelmsford

Only 22.5 overs possible on final day as Warwickshire see off new ball

Andrew Miller
Andrew Miller
23-May-2021
Danny Briggs dug in as Warwickshire's nightwatchman, Essex vs Warwickshire, LV= Insurance Championship, Chelmsford, 4th day, May 23, 2021

Danny Briggs dug in as Warwickshire's nightwatchman  •  Andrew Miller

Warwickshire 166 and 66 for 1 (Briggs 37, Rhodes 22*) drew with Essex 217 (Cook 57, ten Doeschate 56, Harmer 40*)
Just 22.5 overs were possible on the final day at Chelmsford, as Warwickshire guarded against the potential for any late drama with a solid morning's batting before persistent rain forced the two teams to shake hands on a draw.
After batting out a solitary over on the third evening, Warwickshire resumed on 0 for 0 in their second innings, still 51 runs adrift of parity. But Essex's new-ball threat was quickly thwarted, with Danny Briggs, the nightwatchman, continuing where he had left out to compile a 63-run opening stand with Will Rhodes.
Notwithstanding the perpetual threat of Simon Harmer, Essex knew that their best hope of an unlikely win was to strike hard with the new ball when play resumed in dry but overcast conditions.
But Briggs, warming to his task, opened his account with a compact drive for four through long-off off Jamie Porter, before guiding an edge with soft hands through third man one ball later. And when Peter Siddle entered the attack in the tenth, he picked off 14 runs all told in a wayward over, far removed from his immediate first-innings threat.
A firm thump through the covers was followed by a pair of flicks off the pads as Siddle veered too straight in his attempts to force the breakthrough, and Essex were already sensing the moment had been lost when Harmer was thrown the ball two overs later, with the deficit already down to 10.
Siddle was again picked off through fine leg, twice in two balls, as Briggs drew Warwickshire level, before the ever-threatening rain arrived at 12.17pm, ultimately forcing an early lunch after one aborted attempt at a restart.
The teams did eventually reappear for 2.5 more overs, in which time Briggs was removed by Sam Cook, squared up on the back foot and caught off a leading edge in the covers by Dan Lawrence for 37.
After welcoming a smattering of fans back to the Cloud FM County Ground for the first three days, no spectators were admitted for the fourth and final day. For a brief period in the morning, it seemed that the faithful few might be missing out on the best action, and weather, of the match. But ultimately, a soggy affair dribbled to a fittingly drab conclusion.

Andrew Miller is UK editor of ESPNcricinfo. @miller_cricket

AskESPNcricinfo Logo
Instant answers to T20 questions
Warwickshire Innings
<1 / 3>

County Championship

Division 1
TeamMWLDPT
WAR421177
LAN421173.5
NOT431073
HAM421161.5
YOR412144.5
SOM404032.5
Division 2
TeamMWLDPT
ESS430196
GLO431076
DUR311144
NOR412154
SUR301240
GLA403134.5
Division 3
TeamMWLDPT
KEN440094
MID431080
WOR422067.5
LEI412154.5
DER412151.5
SUS404030
Group 1
TeamMWLDPT
NOT10424151
WAR10415145
DUR10325132
ESS10325129
WOR10136109
DER1005572
Group 2
TeamMWLDPT
SOM10415148
HAM10424145
GLO10532131
SUR10226123
LEI10244111
MID1027184
Group 3
TeamMWLDPT
LAN10415150
YOR10514149
GLA10226127
NOR10334123
KEN1003797
SUS1015494