Nottinghamshire 155 (Hasan 3-30) and 457 for six (Clarke 229*) drew with Warwickshire 571 for 9 dec (Hain 100, Mousley 87, Burgess 77*, Hasan 54)

Thanks to Clarke's marathon unbeaten 229, spanning eight hours and 38 minutes, Nottinghamshire clawed again a deficit of 416 on first innings after following on to deal a blow to Warwickshire's title ambitions.

The Bears transfer above Hampshire and Essex to go second within the Division One desk with the 12 factors they take from the draw however have floor to make up on defending champions Surrey, whose extraordinary win over Kent at Canterbury provides them a 32-point lead, albeit from seven matches to Warwickshire's six.

Clarke was dropped at slip on 128 within the morning session - a troublesome likelihood although one which wanted to be taken on a gradual, flat monitor the place alternatives for the bowlers had been in brief provide. There weren't many errors in any other case from the previous England Lions participant, who hit 35 fours and a six from 365 balls confronted.

Clarke, whose 12 first-class a whole bunch in his first three seasons at Worcestershire earmarked him as a future star, has struggled for consistency since transferring to Trent Bridge. He posted three centuries in his first season in 2019 however solely three extra in 55 innings since then however there was no doubting his high quality on this event.

Having resumed with a deficit of 149 and the second new ball obtainable two overs into the ultimate morning, Nottinghamshire knew that if they may emerge from the opening session with out sustaining an excessive amount of harm, their possibilities of seeing out a draw would rise appreciably.

With the assistance of that one vital slice of luck for Clarke, they achieved their goal, reaching lunch with only one casualty and Warwickshire's benefit right down to 75. The one man out was Steven Mullaney, the Nottinghamshire skipper, who was bowled providing no shot as Rushworth, the nation's main wicket-taker, discovered uncommon deviation off the pitch within the tenth over with the brand new ball, which zipped again to hit off stump.

The fifth-wicket stand had matched the fourth in including precisely 100 runs, Mullaney having batted for greater than two hours for his 48 runs.

The Clarke let-off got here three overs later, the batter slashing at one outdoors off stump from Will Rhodes in a second of vulnerability out of character with the remainder of his innings. To be truthful to Rob Yates, who missed the possibility at slip, the ball got here off the sting at head peak with sufficient momentum to succeed in the boundary even after passing by way of his palms to his proper. Nonetheless, Nottinghamshire would have been six-down for 292 had it caught, so it felt like an enormous second.

Unruffled, Clarke took two off the following ball to go previous his earlier greatest for Nottinghamshire (133), earlier than restoring his equilibrium with one other classically executed straight drive for 4. He swept Danny Briggs for the primary six of his innings and was on 166 from 341 for 5 at lunch. Warwickshire, having give you a game-plan in a single day to take the six remaining wickets in two classes, had been already considerably not on time.

Rushworth made issues occur once more after the interval, bowling Tom Moores with a ball that maybe stored a tad low. At 361 for six, the house facet had been nonetheless 55 behind, with Warwickshire now sensing a possibility.

But Clarke discovered one other resolute associate in Calvin Harrison, who was taking part in in solely his second Championship match but was unfazed at the same time as Warwickshire at instances introduced each fielder shut in.

It was with because of Harrison preserving his nerve as solidly as Moores and Mullaney earlier than him that Clarke was capable of bide his time, sweeping his 318th ball confronted to the boundary off Danny Briggs to go to 203, a second that noticed sustained applause from the house crew balcony however at first a mere faucet of the gloves between the seventh-wicket pair earlier than Clarke, decided to see the job by way of to the tip, briefly raised his bat in acknowledgement of the spectators.

Nottinghamshire moved into the lead for the primary time within the match shortly afterwards and had been 20 in entrance at tea with 36 overs to play, nonetheless time for Warwickshire to seal a win if they may break the seventh-wicket partnership quickly afterwards.

Yet one other vital likelihood was missed, with the lead simply 40 and 30 overs remaining, when Harrison, on 33, miscued a pull in opposition to Rushworth however was dropped on the lengthy leg boundary by Olly Hannon-Dalby, and it was sufficient for Warwickshire skipper Will Rhodes to supply his handshake on a draw at 5pm, Harrison ending on 38 not out having helped add 103 runs in two hours and 19 minutes on the crease.