Highlights from the second day
Jonathan Trott reached a new milestone as Warwickshire stepped up their challenge for the LV= County Championship on the second day against Division One stragglers Northamptonshire at Edgbaston.
A typically proficient innings took the England batsman to his first hundred on his home ground this season as Warwickshire cruised past the visitors' total of 273 and opened up a lead of 140 on closing at 413 for three.
Sam Hain, Warwickshire's 19-year-old batting discovery, also completed a near-flawless fourth championship century in his debut season and at the halfway stage in the contest the most likely outcome is an 11th defeat for Northamptonshire.
With the fourth-wicket stand so far worth 271, Trott has collected 17 fours and a six in his 128 not out and Hain, who made his maiden century against Northants in June, accelerated in the final session to an unbeaten 148 having hit 20 fours and a six.
New record 4th wicket partnership v Nthants 236 Bears 378-3 Hain 130 Trott 115
— Warwickshire CCC (@CricketingBears) September 10, 2014
Having scored two one-day hundreds in a season for the first time since 2008, Trott has now hit two championship centuries in a summer for the first time since making his Test debut against Australia five years ago.
In many ways the day was the story of Northants' unhappy season in the top-flight. Having been reasonably competitive in restricting Warwickshire to 76 for two in the morning session, they inevitably felt the pressure of being a bowler down.
A back problem kept David Willey off the field all day and in his absence the attack was gradually ripped apart by a team who still have an outside chance of claiming the championship.
Sam Hain 100 @CricketingBearspic.twitter.com/Qu4GLWXnJJ
— Phil Britt (@HappeeSnapper) September 10, 2014
When Warwickshire resumed at 79 for one, Varun Chopra advanced to 53 before Neil Wagner got one to bounce and leave the home skipper for a routine catch by Adam Rossington.
William Porterfield, meanwhile, was almost becalmed, contributing only 17 in 21 overs before he was lbw for 46, a deserved success for off-spinner James Middlebrook in a 20-over stint.
From that point, the closest Northants came to a wicket was when Trott, on 48, chanced a single to mid-on and received the benefit in a close call when Kyle Coetzer's throw hit the stumps.
In a sign of maturity, Hain was content to take 34 balls to get off the mark, but once under way he matched his partner - they are lookalikes in their style and mannerisms - in setting a new fourth-wicket record for this fixture.
Their hundreds came up in successive overs. Trott pinged his 13th four through midwicket from the 173rd ball he faced and Hain got there in two fewer deliveries when quietly pushing a single to mid-on.