County Championship: Liam Norwell takes 9-62 as Bears beat Hampshire to relegate Yorkshire

Liam Norwell finished with a career-best 13 wickets in the match

Liam Norwell produced the performance of a lifetime with a stunning 9-62 as 2021 county champions Warwickshire miraculously stayed up and relegated Yorkshire with a five-run win over Hampshire at Edgbaston.

Set only 139 to win after bowling out Warwickshire for 177, Hampshire buckled, being bowled out for 133.

After losing out on the title to Surrey last week, Hampshire's second straight defeat cost them runners-up spot - and £145,000 in prize money - as they now only finish third.

It was an astonishing bowling effort from Norwell - who took career-best figures - and the equally tireless, but relatively unrewarded Oliver Hannon-Dalby. The pair sent down 37 of the 44 overs in Hampshire's second innings between them.

While Yorkshire were left cursing their first relegation in 11 years, the Bears' unlikely escape in Birmingham, on a final day of the season when 18 wickets fell, was as well received as their eighth title triumph a year ago.

Warwickshire finish three points above Yorkshire, who lost to already-relegated Gloucestershire on Wednesday, which meant survival was out of their hands.

Bears bowled out cheaply . . .

After closing at 62-2 on Wednesday, with a lead of only 23, the main surprise given the overnight rain and overcast outlook in Birmingham was that they got started on time thanks to the hard work of Gary Barwell and his Edgbaston groundstaff.

That was pretty much the only thing that went right in the morning session for the Bears, despite a second half-century in the match for Surrey-bound Dom Sibley on his final appearance.

Brad Wheal struck in successive overs as both Alex Davies and skipper Will Rhodes holed out going for their shots.

James Fuller then took over as chief wicket taker, adding the scalps of Dan Mousley, Jacob Bethell, Danny Briggs and Norwell, with a run-out mix-up sandwiched in between.

Sam Hain, coming in number eight after injuring his hamstring while making an acrobatic boundary stop on Wednesday, was batting with a runner, Davies.

And, having already survived one run-out near-miss, Davies was this time left stranded by a direct hit from short mid-wicket from Hampshire skipper James Vince - and was forced to make the slow march back to the dressing room for the second time in an hour, this time accompanied by the limping Hain.

When Fuller then removed Briggs and Norwell in successive balls, Fuller had a chance to repeat his Bob Willis Trophy hat-trick against Sussex at Arundel in 2020.

But, although Hannon-Dalby survived the hat-trick ball, Sibley did not trust the survival skills of the Bears last man, despite several key innings this season. And, in attempting to farm the strike, he himself perished, missing out on a chance to carry his bat for the the third time this season.

. . . but Hants bowled out even cheaper still

That left Hampshire needing just 139 to win - but chasing small targets can so often be tricky. And this run chase certainly proved to be the case.

The Bears' top wicket-taker Hannon-Dalby made the first breakthrough in the third over when he had Felix Organ caught behind - and that opened the door for Norwell.

He quickly got rid of fellow opener Ian Holland - and the wickets kept on coming.

At 91-7, when former Bears all-rounder Keith Barker became his sixth victim, Nick Gubbins and James Fuller then put on what seemed a crucial 33 for the eighth wicket.

But a ball change - the story of the 2022 summer - proved key.

With the next ball, Norwell won a generous lbw decision against Gubbins for 46 and, although the visitors got it down to within one blow of victory, he then struck twice in four balls.

First he bowled Fuller for 22 and then trapped Mohammad Abbas leg before to end with 13-100 in the match, also a career-best.