County Championship: Warwickshire's Sam Hain hits double century in draw with Northants

Warwickshire's match against Northamptonshire in County Championship Division One meandered to an inevitable draw, with just 10 wickets falling in four days at Edgbaston.

The final instalment of stultifying stalemate saw the home side, in reply to Northamptonshire's 597-6 take, progress to 568-4, before hands were shaken at 16:40 BST.

Sam Hain (202) and Matt Lamb (155) extended their partnership to an unbroken 254, a Warwickshire fifth-wicket record against Northamptonshire. Hain's effort came from 494 balls and included a six and 16 fours, with Lamb's contribution taking 230 balls and containing 16 fours.

Hain and Lamb gently filled their boots against a toiling attack on a flat pitch, during a final day which - like the three which preceded it - presented a less than compelling spectacle.

The batting dominance was not entirely due to the pitch as both bowling attacks, missing spearheads Liam Norwell and Ben Sanderson respectively, persevered nobly but lacked potency.

After Warwickshire resumed on 394-4 on the final morning, Hain and Lamb batted serenely through the morning to take the total to 483 at lunch. Hain reached 150 from 378 balls while Lamb, having scored briskly the previous evening, settled for quiet accumulation. He advanced to 98 at lunch and reached three figures shortly after.

There was little that visiting skipper Ricardo Vasconcelos could do except rotate his bowlers, although he did not exercise that option very much at one end. Former England spinner Simon Kerrigan bowled unchanged at the Pavilion End from 14:55 on the third day until lunchtime on the fourth - a gruelling 37 overs, delivered with no assistance from the pitch.

Vasconcelos turned to the rarely-seen medium pace of Emilio Gay for the last hour and Hain clipped the latter for the leg-side single which moved him to 200 from 489 balls, 473 of which he had not struck for four.

Report supplied by the ECB Reporters' Network.