
Worcestershire’s pace bowlers produced their best performance of the season to blow away Essex’s batters and put them in complete control on Day Two of the Rothesay County Championship at Visit Worcestershire New Road.
In a clinical bowling display, wickets were shared amongst the pace bowlers, with Tom Taylor’s 15-over spell of 3-23 the standout performance.
Robin Das top scored with resilient 44, but when he was dismissed by Matthew Waite, Essex were up against it, and were eventually bundled out for 157.
The home side navigated their way through the final session to reach 58/5 at the close and put themselves firmly in the driving seat heading into Day Three.
The Pears resumed Day 2 on 354-9, with Yadvinder Singh and Ben Allison looking to add to the substantial overnight score.
Only four runs were mustered however, before an expansive shot from Allison drew a top edge, only to be caught at third man by his brother, Charlie, off the bowling of Shane Snater, for a well-made 38 off 66 deliveries.
With clouds looming large over the ground, and a more than adequate score to work with, the hosts’ seam attack were in high spirits as they took the field.
It was Allison, who made the first inroad of the day in just the second over, when his brother, Charlie, shouldered arms to an angled in-swinger that uprooted off-stump and left the visitors 0-1.
Bowling some testing lines on a surface that offered plenty to keep the bowlers interested, Essex skipper, Tom Westley soon became the second victim of the response, as Tom Taylor produced a gem of a delivery to see him caught behind for just six.
Having played a vital role with the bat, Matthew Waite wasted no time settling in with the ball, fashioning an early chance as Dean Elgar edged behind, but a very tough catch was put down in the cordon.
Just as Elgar and Robin Das looked to have got to grips with the conditions, the score soon became 46-3 when Ethan Brookes to a stunning, one-handed catch down low to his left with an outstretched arm, to dismiss Elgar for 16 and give his side the key wicket before lunch.
Resuming in overcast conditions, Allison and Yadvinder Singh continued to extract movement off the pitch, beating the bat of the Essex middle order on numerous occasions.
With the home side enjoying their best period of the season to date, Alison helped himself to his second wicket of the day, when his rising delivery kissed the edge of Matt Critchley’s bat to be safely gathered by Gareth Roderick behind the stumps.
The off-side fielders were kept busy in the early exchanges of the afternoon, with the ball unable to puncture in the infield, as Waite, Taylor and Singh bowled in tandem to build pressure and restrict their opponents scoring.
With his tail up and teammates sensing frailties, another period of sustained pressure from Taylor saw him claim his third scalp of the day as he produced a textbook delivery that moved away enough from the right-handed Michael Pepper to feather the edge of his bat and nestle into the hands of the waiting Brookes at slip.
With the atmosphere positively buoyant across New Road, Worcestershire were playing with a renewed confidence, with their bowling entourage giving the supporters around New Road plenty of reasons to be cheerful.
The Pears faithful weren’t made to wait long for their next opportunity to celebrate, as Worcestershire saw the back of Robin Das, when a typically testing delivery from Matthew Waite ended his resistance for 44 – putting the hosts in total control.
98-6 soon became 117-7, when Brookes jumped for joy as he took just eight balls of his spell to end Harmer’s brief stint at the crease, before Singh was rewarded for a controlled spell of his own by removing Snater for 20, as Roderick took his fourth catch of the innings behind the stumps.
Waite capped off a clinical bowling performance when he returned to action from the Diglis End, wrapping up proceedings with two quick wickets, when he first rearranged Thain’s off-stump, and three-balls later had Jamie Porter caught behind, bowling Essex out for 157 in the process.
After a quick turnaround, the hosts found themselves two wickets down early when Critchley took a superb catch off the bowling of Snater to remove Roderick without scoring, swiftly followed by the removal of Henry Nicholls as he was trapped LBW soon after.
A period of calm ensued, as Worcestershire looked to continue their dominant day, but the late fall of Libby for 10 threatened to change the headlines.
Kashif Ali batted nicely for his 31, before he was out to a Simon Harmer delivery that did enough to strike him on the pad, moments before the same fate befell Allison giving the away side some hope overnight.
Rob Jones (13) and Yadvinder Singh (0) batted through safely to stumps, with a 259 run lead.