Worcestershire Club Captain Brett D’Oliveira hailed a superb catch by Jack Haynes on day two of the home LV=Insurance County Championship match with Sussex.
D’Oliveira said it was just reward for the hard work put in by all the slip fielders during the past few months.
Haynes held onto a low chance away to his left to dismiss Tom Clark (44) to crucially end a third-wicket partnership of 119 with Cheteshwar Pujara.
It opened the door for Joe Leach to pick up three wickets in seven balls – Clark, Mohammad Rizwan and Jamie Atkins – and put Worcestershire in control on day two.
Sussex closed the day on 169-5 – 322 runs arrears of Worcestershire after D’Oliveira’s 169 not out had steered them to 491 all out and four batting bonus points.
D’Oliveira said: “I’m really pleased about that catch because they work their socks off to try and catch them in the slips.
“They do it all of the winter and all of pre-season and then every day before the game.
“It is great when one of those sticks and it really gives the lads a lift.”
Leach ended with 4-56 from 13 overs to follow on from his four wickets against Leicestershire in the opening game.
D’Oliveira said: “Joe is playing with a lot of confidence at the minute.
“Giving up the captaincy has been great for him, and he can go out there and play his cricket, and that’s exactly what we want.
“We know what Joe’s capabilities are. It is great to see, and you know he is a quality bowler, and so it is just about getting him into the attack at the right times and allowing him to flourish.”
D’Oliveira believes patience will be the key for Worcestershire during the next two days as they look to press home their advantage.
He said: “We just had a quick chat in the dressing room, and it was exactly what I said, let’s learn from that; it doesn’t have to be bang, bang, bang.
“There will be periods where it goes a little bit flatter, and there are good players in their team.
“You have to accept that, but when we do a wicket, it is about upping the intensity and then really go hard at them and get a few more.
“The wicket is not offering a great deal but if we stack areas for long enough, we will get our rewards, and we will keep that intensity high, and hopefully, we will get those chances.”
D’Oliveira showed that patient approach himself yesterday evening in battling through the 90s before securing back to back hundreds.
He said: “I thought they bowled well in periods, and it was about getting through those tricky periods and, when the back-up bowlers came on and didn’t quite hit their lengths, it was about taking care of that really.
“Did I feel the pressure in the 90s? Surprisingly, I was okay, actually. It was difficult because they brought the field right up and didn’t give much away with the ball.
“It was about staying patient and waiting for that right ball.”
