Jacob Duffy remained positive as his side fell behind in the game on day three of the Rothesay County Championship Division One fixture against Warwickshire.
Despite taking a five-wicket haul, his first in Worcestershire colours, the home side have it all to day on the final day, requiring an improbable 270 to win, with eight wickets in hand.
Bowling consistently and accurately, the New Zealand pace bowler finished with figures of 21.5-4-75-5, as he spearheaded the Pears’ attack as they dismissed their rivals for 280.
The seamer confessed it was a good feeling to register his maiden fifer in the Worcestershire colours, on a wicket that kept both the batters and the bowlers engaged.
Jacob Duffy Interview
“It’s always nice to get one notched up. Today was really tough, on a tricky wicket and especially given how well they batted, but it felt nice to get one on the board.
“In between the odd one that shoots up and shoots down, it’s a pretty good wicket. There are some danger balls in there, like the one that got Latham, but if you show some good form with the bat, I think it’s a good wicket.”
In amongst the fall of wickets through both sides’ respective batting innings, there were plenty of other chances that were not capitalised on by two sides chasing victory in the match for different reasons.
After his side recorded a first innings total of 358 against Essex in the previous fixture, and winning by a handsome margin as a result, Duffy, was under no illusions that he and his team are up against it heading into a decisive final day’s play.
“The nature of the scores this year have been low, so when we ended up looking at chasing 300, it was probably a little bit more than we expected.
“So, I guess there is that toss-up between having your catchers in and having your third man protecting – things like that. There are also a few chances in that gully line, which obviously over here, isn’t quite as big a position, but there’s probably a few chances that went away from us.”
It was the Bears top order who gave the exhibition in how to bat across their two innings at Visit Worcestershire New Road, with Tom Latham scoring a gritty first innings half-century, with others chipping in along the way.
Despite the contributions, it was Sam Hain who stood out from the others, as he registered impressive scores of 86 and 87 not-out, dominating the visitors’ scorecards and proving a constant thorn in the side of the Worcestershire bowling unit.
After losing two wickets late on in the day, the pursuit of 327 to win wobbled, but the Kiwi seam bowler insists his team are encouraged by the runs scored previously in the match.
“There are definitely runs to be had out there, I know there is belief in the camp and we are in for a good days cricket.
“We know there might be a little bit of rain around, but it’ll be much the same for us. You have to take that out of your head and play things as it is.
“It’s about applying ourselves, making the bowlers turn around and making that ball a little bit older. When we bowled, we certainly found it helped to take a little bit of that movement out of it.”
