[themaclad]

Rhodes struck his first red-ball century of the summer, and unbeaten 151, while Yates added the fifth of his prolific season as the Bears finished the second day at 464 for seven.

That represented a substantial lead of 386 runs to leave Warwickshire firmly on track to claim a second trophy inside a week.

Dominic Sibley and Sam Hain added half-centuries while Lancashire leg-spinner Matt Parkinson was rewarded for his toil on a placid pitch with three wickets.

Rhodes lifted the LV= Insurance County Championship trophy on Friday with only a century missing from his honours list for the season.



The 26-year-old set about rectifying that in dominant style after he walked into bat alongside Yates in the morning session after Sibley was trapped lbe by Tom Bailey.

Lancashire had needed more early wickets to have any hope of recovering an already desperate situation after they were skittled for 78 yesterday, but Rhodes and Yates ensured such thoughts were quickly off the table.

The pair settled into a 110-run second-wicket stand that not only squeezed any life out of the Red Rose challenge but also underlined why Yates is being touted for higher honours.

The 22-year-old reached his century with the calm assurance that successful teams require at the top of the order.



When he finally departed, well caught by Luke Wells at slip off Parkinson, Rhodes simply kept gong to bat through the day and further reinforce his side’s position.

Rhodes struck 18 boundaries and shared a further 97-run stand with Hain, who was bowled Jack Blatherwick for 55.
Wells then bowled Matthew Lamb without scoring but Michael Burgess joined in the free scoring with 44 before Parkinson had him stumped.

Tim Bresnan and Danny Briggs both fell cheaply to the leg-spinners but Rhodes continued until the close to leave him and his side on the brink of a memorable week.

[Lord Snooty]

518 all out. A bit of a first innings deficit there.

[themaclad]

440 deficit make 600 bowl them out for 50 win game at 5.58 2/10/21 in the dark

[themaclad]

Lancashire were 171 for six in their second innings, still some 269 runs adrift of making Warwickshire bat again, with young opener George Balderson’s 65 offering a rare bright spot for the Red Rose.

Warwickshire were earlier eventually dismissed for 518 with captain Will Rhodes’ 156 the stand-out.

Rhodes lifted the LV= Insurance County Championship trophy just six days ago, when Warwickshire pipped Lancashire for the title, but the closeness of that battle has not been replicated in London this week.

Lancashire have been chasing the game from a long way behind since crashing to 12 for six on the opening morning before scrambling to 78 in their first innings.



Centuries from Rhodes and Rob Yates piled on the Red Rose misery, whose only motivation now appears to be to avoid the indignity of their largest-ever first-class defeat – by an innings and 220 runs against West Indies in 1950.

Rhodes added only five more to his overnight total when he was bowled by Jack Blatherwick before Matt Parkinson ended the innings, bowling debutant Manraj Johal, to finish with four for 78.

Lancashire started their second innings effectively with pride to play for, after conceding a 440-run first-innings lead, and lost Alex Davies when he called for a quick single.

Davies, who will join Warwickshire next summer, was run out by Craig Miles’ direct hit and the non-striker’s end despite a despairing dive.



Balderson and Luke Wells added 71 for the second wicket before former England seamer Tim Bresnan made the breakthrough, inducing an edge through to the keeper from Wells.

It preceded some rather loose dismissals as Josh Bohannon and Dane Vilas both guided the ball into the cordon. Balderson had reached his half-century from 111 balls, including eight fours, before he got a good ball from Liam Norwell that crashed into the stumps.

Steven Croft then made a curious exit when he appeared to miss a Danny Briggs delivery by some margin as it turned viciously from a length and into the hands of Bresnan at first slip. Croft nevertheless turned and made his way back to the pavilion as Warwickshire’s momentum towards victory gathered pace.



But with the light deteriorating the umpires stepped in at 4.15pm to take the players off the field and delay Warwickshire’s celebrations by at least another day.

We lasted an hour and Warwickshire won

[themaclad]

The Bears claimed the final four wickets they required today inside 70 minutes to bowl Lancashire out for 241 and begin trophy-winning celebrations for the second time in a week.

Warwickshire, the county Bob Willis proudly represented for 13 years, lifted the LV= Insurance County Championship last Friday after pipping Lancashire for the title, but this contest was all one-way traffic.

Lancashire never recovered after crashing from six for 12 on the opening morning, eventually scrambling to 78, before Warwickshire piled on 518 on the back of centuries from captain Will Rhodes and Rob Yates.

Lancashire made a better fist of it with the bat second time round, headlined by 65 from young opener George Balderson on his first-ever trip to London, but after conceding a 440-run lead their main priority was avoiding the indignity of the largest defeat in their 156-year history of playing first-class cricket.



Late hitting from the tail at least ensured they progressed past the innings and 220 run loss at the hands of West Indies in 1950.Teenage debutant Manraj Johal claimed the first wicket of the day when he slipped a full delivery past Luke Wood and into his leg stump for a breezy 28.

Rob Jones was then lbw propping forward to Danny Briggs who then had Jack Blatherwick stumped as he attempted to swing a second six of the over into the stands.

Tom Bailey supplied some lusty hitting to ensure Lancashire also narrowly also avoided their biggest defeat against a county opposition – an innings and 220-run loss to Yorkshire in 1938 - before the next ball a top-edge was expertly pouched by keeper Michael Burgess running away towards fine leg.

Left-arm spinner Danny Briggs finished with three for 58 while Liam Norwell, who claimed the final wicket, returned three for 60.