The loss of six wickets left Worcestershire’s hopes of finishing the season with a win hanging in the balance as the hosts took a 43-run lead into the third day of their Rothesay County Championship clash against Sussex.
After wrapping the Sussex innings up for 350, openers Jake Libby and Rehaan Edavalath compiled a century stand for the opening wicket to lay the ideal platform for the Pears.
Libby made a stunning 72 on his way to passing 1,000 Division One runs for the season, before he and Edavalath (45) both fell in a damaging passage.
Rob Jones (46) and Dan Lategan (30) both made starts, but four late wickets saw the Pears fall behind as they closed on 270-6.
A resplendent morning at Visit Worcestershire New Road saw the home side land the first blow of the day when Tom Taylor bowled Jack Carson in the first over of the morning.
A 53rd wicket of a remarkable season followed soon after for Taylor as Danny Lamb feathered a nick through to Rob Jones at second slip, to check the visitors progress at 245-7.
Not-out John Simpson registered his fourth hundred of a memorable Division One campaign, reaching the milestone in 138 balls and scoring 18 boundaries in the process, shortly after Ollie Robinson had departed for a brisk 24.
As Simpson kicked on through the gears, the visitors reached 350 and strengthened their grip on the match, before Matthew Waite’s introduction into the attack saw him take two in four balls as he dismissed both Karvelas (20) and Unadkat (0), with Sussex all-out for 350 possessing a healthy lead of 227.
It was an aggressive short ball that saw Karvelas dismissed, as his mistimed hook shot landed straight down the throat of Isaac Mohammed on the legside boundary, before the Metro Bank Cup final hero trapped Jaydev Unadkat bang in front LBW to wrap up the Sussex innings.
Simpson finished unbeaten on 129, with his 19th first-class century the standout innings of the game, before Worcestershire openers Jake Libby and Rehaan Edavalath negotiated a tricky two over period before lunch without any damage.
Libby surpassed 1,000 first class runs for the season in the Rothesay County Championship early into the afternoon session, raising his bat to the warm applause of his teammates and supporters around Visit Worcestershire New Road in appreciation of a standout campaign at the top of the order for the Pears.
The shackles were freed by Libby however, as he moved through the gears with some dismissive pull shots through midwicket as Sussex’s opening bowlers grafted to no avail in the afternoon sunshine.
Libby pressed on in fine style, reaching a third Division One half-century of the season in just 63 deliveries, stroking eight fours in the process as he and Edavalath took the hosts past 100 in a solid start to the final Worcestershire innings of the summer.
The pair added 113 for the first wicket, enjoying a surface that showed signs of flattening, before in the 28th over, Edavalath was trapped LBW just five runs short of second first-class fifty when he was beaten by an Unadkat ball that straightened sharply.
Libby’s defiant knock at the top of the order was brought to a close on 72, when the Pear’s skipper edged an Unadkat ball to slip, exiting the field to a standing ovation as he finished the season with an impressive red-ball average of 44.16.
Isaac Mohammed came and went for four when he was caught at mid-on, with Worcestershire suddenly 124-3.
First-innings top scorer Dan Lategan and number five Rob Jones came together midway through the afternoon to add 63 for the fourth wicket with the hosts working hard to find a foothold in the game.
Despite making it to the tea interval unscathed, Tom Haines ended the partnership in the 46th over of Worcestershire’s reply, as he pinned Lategan LBW for 30, with the hosts still 40 runs behind.
Rob Jones produced a gritty knock of 46, with Worcestershire heading towards the close at parity, with the middle-order batter playing watchfully in the face of some disciplined Sussex bowling.
Four short of a second half-century of the season, Jones succumbed, LBW to Danny Lamb having occupied the crease for 94 deliveries.
A breezy Ethan Brookes cameo of 29 looked to up the tempo for the hosts late in the day, but when he strangled one down the leg side and was forced to depart in unfortunate circumstances, Gareth Roderick and Ben Gibbon saw through a challenging final passage as Worcestershire closed the day 270-6.
