Worcestershire Academy (Under-18) held on for a dramatic draw to protect their five year unbeaten record in ECB County Championship three-day cricket with their last pair at the wicket in the Group Two match with Wales at Panteg.
Charlie Egerton and Joshua Leach survived the final 5.4 overs to earn the Academy a share of the spoils from the three-day encounter as they closed on 285-9 after being set a 442 target.
Wales put the accent on spin and bowled a marathon 113 overs on the final day after Worcestershire had resumed on 9-0 from three overs.
But determined half centuries from Fin Goodman, who batted more than three hours for his 61, and Henry Hawes (53) helped to defy the Wales attack and there was plenty of resilience throughout the side.
It means the Academy are still unbeaten in County Championship cricket since losing away to Hampshire in 2019.
Worcestershire openers Toby Cox (24) and Louis Hursthouse (44) put on 63 but Wales looked favourites after half the side was dismissed for 146.
Goodman came in at number four and put on 53 with Hawes before he was seventh out at 238 after striking four boundaries in his 181 ball knock
Hawes departed with the total on 271 after striking eight fours in his 126 ball innings and skipper Ben Clarke departed 10 runs later but Egerton and Leach kept Wales at bay.
Worcestershire ended with a total of 10 points from the game – one for batting, four for bowling and five for the draw.
Wales opted to bat on day one and totalled 402 all out with opener Zac Williams hitting 169 off 230 balls and being supported by contributions all down the order.
The home side were 355-5 at one stage but lost the last five wickets for 47 runs to the combined efforts of Leach (23-3-62-3) and Daniel Lategan (11-0-45-3).
Worcestershire reached 27-0 by the close but on day two wickets fell at regular intervals and they were bowled out for 150 in 54.2 overs, losing eight wickets in the morning session.
Alfie Higgins, a century-maker last week against Northamptonshire, top-scored with 30 and added 48 for the sixth wicket with Seth Essenhigh (29) after Worcestershire had been 70-5.
Lategan (25) was the other main contributor but Wales, despite having a lead of 252, opted not to enforce the follow on.
Two wickets apiece for Clarke and Hawes reduced them to 39-5 but then Iwan Jones came in at number seven and hit an unbeaten 102 in a total of 189-9 declared from 57.2 overs.
Lategan (9.2-2-29-3) picked up three lower order wickets to give him match figures of 20.2-2-74-6 while Clarke ended with 23-5-63-2 and Hawes 9-3-20-2 before the dramatic events of the final day.
