Worcestershire Under-17s fell agonisingly short of victory after skipper Pete Clark and Alex Hinkley hit centuries on the final day of the Specsavers County Championship match with Somerset at Stourport.
The home side reached 279-2 in pursuit of a 319 target in 98 overs with more than 10 overs remaining after Clark and Hinkley added 236 for the third wicket.
But the duo were dismissed in the same over from Max Toohey for 137 and exactly 100 respectively and six wickets went down for 16 runs.
Josh Dickenson and Josh Baker joined forces at 295-8 and inched Worcestershire closer to the finishing line.
But the task of scoring six runs off the final over from Toohey was just beyond them.
Dickenson and Baker managed three singles and Worcestershire closed the day on 316-8 in a thrilling finale.
Clark struck one six and 17 fours in his fine 259 ball knock and Hinkley one six and 10 boundaries off 197 deliveries.
A splendid last day was set up by two declarations after only 5.5 overs had been possible on the second day.
Worcestershire declared at their overnight 23-2 and Somerset forfeited their second innings.
Rehan Edavalaeth (5) and Dan Holland (21) departed early on to leave Worcestershire on 43-2 but then came the splendid partnership between Clark and Hinkley.
Worcestershire thus ended their programme with one win, two defeats and one draw under their belts.
But they were left to reflect on might have been after a last day batting collapse against Devon and being unable to take advantage of today’s position of strength.
