Bears facing up to another innings loss
Simon Harmer bowled 39 overs on a sultry day at Chelmsford, 32 of them unchanged in one marathon spell, to claim 6-92 in Warwickshire’s first innings and help Essex force the follow-on
The South African helped dismiss Warwickshire for 283 in 109 overs, well short of the 392 target to make Essex bat again. The indefatigable Harmer was then back in action after six overs of Warwickshire’s second innings, and had Jonathan Trott lbw not playing a shot to the final ball of the day.
Warwickshire were 27-2 in the 11 overs available before the close, still 231 runs short of avoiding their fourth innings defeat in six Championship games this summer.
Meanwhile, Joe Denly demonstrated immense powers of concentration in the sweltering heat to steer Kent into a position of strength on day three of the clash with Worcestershire at New Road.
The 31-year-old batsman resumed on his overnight 69 and batted for a total of nearly eight hours in scoring a career best 227 out of 474 all out to leave Worcestershire a 399 target.
