Nottinghamshire 279 (Clarke 94, Duckett 62, Booth 4-71) and 537 for 7 dec (Hameed 115, Verreynne 115, Duckett 93, Clarke 82) drew with Warwickshire 459 (Barnard 165, Booth 70, Woakes 64)
The fifth-wicket pair added 180 in the largest of three century partnerships in the innings, with Clarke, who made 94 in the first innings, swelling his personal tally for the season to 449 as the leading run-scorer in the competition.
Nottinghamshire had been 310 for 4 overnight, leading by 130, but Warwickshire created a potential opportunity for themselves by taking three wickets in the last hour of Sunday’s play. To turn that into a win, though, they needed realistically to make similar inroads on the final morning. Verreynne and Clarke denied them any.
Five wickets for England’s Josh Tongue notwithstanding, Warwickshire had dominated the first half of the contest, securing maximum bonus points after being asked to bat first and then forcing the title-holders to follow on. Skipper Ed Barnard led from the front with a formidable 165, backed up by a career-best 70 by allrounder Michael Booth, who then generated good pace with the ball in taking 4 for 71.
Haseeb Hameed (116) and Ben Duckett (93) gave Nottinghamshire’s second innings strong foundations with a 150-run partnership for the second wicket on Sunday, but both fell before the close, giving Warwickshire’s bowlers fresh impetus for the final day.
With a ball that was only seven overs old on the resumption, there were promising early signs for the visitors as Ethan Bamber forced an inside edge by Verreynne that did not miss the stumps by much and Chris Woakes made a confident appeal for leg before against the same batter, which probably failed only on height.
Yet as the session developed, Verreynne and Clarke looked increasingly secure. Nottinghamshire’s lead had grown to 232 by lunch, at which point the partnership was worth 126 and both protagonists had half-centuries under their belts.
There was much to commend about the commitment of all six Warwickshire seamers in trying to make something happen on a generally benign pitch. Bamber and Jordan Thompson were the most impressive.
But Clarke and Verreynne seldom allowed their concentration to waver, which was particularly important when the sunshine of the morning gave way to cloud cover for a period after lunch.
Barnard eventually looked to his spinners to carry the workload, with versatile Australian Test seamer Beau Webster eventually lending his offbreaks to the cause.
Yet apart from fellow offspinner Rob Yates cashing in as Clarke’s patience finally cracked at three minutes to three, no gains were made until after tea, by which time Webster’s dismissal of Verreynne, bowled sweeping after hitting 10 fours in a 283-minute vigil, and an excellent slip catch by Barnard to remove Liam Patterson-White, were inconsequential. After the formality of a Nottinghamshire declaration, handshakes were exchanged at ten to five.