Ed Barnard scored his first century for Worcestershire Seconds to lead a stirring fightback against Warwickshire Seconds at Barnt Green.
The England Under-19 all-rounder came to the wicket with Worcestershire in trouble at 49-4 after being put into bat when play was finally able to get underway on the third day.
He reached three figures off 172 balls with 16 fours and shared in stands of 63 with George Rhodes, 68 with Will Fraine and then 149 in 39 overs with Michael Hill who made 64.
Barnard was eventually dismissed for 133 after batting for four minutes short of five hours, hitting 17 boundaries and facing 221 deliveries.
It enabled Worcestershire to reach 344-8 by the close with one-day remaining of the fixture tomorrow.
Barnard clearly has a liking for Barnt Green as he notched his previous best Seconds score of 84 at the same venue in the corresponding fixture last season.
Worcestershire struggled in the morning session in helpful bowling conditions with Joe Clarke, Tom Kohler-Cadmore, skipper Shaaiq Choudhry and Alex Hepburn all falling cheaply.
But Rhodes got his head down in typically determined fashion and helped launch the recovery with Barnard as he made off 103 balls with eight fours in a stay of two and a quarter-hours at the wicket.
Barnard was then given good support by Academy product Fraine, who is from Huddersfield, in another good partnership.
Fraine also was dismissed for 38 made off 60 balls with six boundaries.
Barnard continued to lead the fightback and his next partner was Hill, a left hander who hails from Stourbridge and who played for Warwickshire Seconds last season.
They scored freely and, as the sun came out, conditions became more favourable for batting before both being dismissed in the closing stages of the day.
Hill's knock spanning 124 balls contained one six and eight fours.
Worcestershire – first innings
Kohler-Cadmore c Webb b Milnes 13
Clarke c Javid b Hannon-Dalby 6
Rhodes c Coleman b Brookes 38
Choudhry c Mellor b Milnes 1
Hepburn c Mellor b Milnes 5
Barnard c Milnes b Poysden 133
Fraine b Adair 38
Hill st Mellor b Poysden 64
Russell not out 12
Whiles not out 0
Extras 34
Total (for 8 wickets) 344 in 96 overs
FOW: 11, 27, 39, 49, 112, 180, 329, 338.
Bowling: Hannon-Dalby 1-34, Milnes 3-52, Adair 1-37,Brookes 1-40, Poysden 2-67.
