Worcestershire U18’s continued their excellent recent form with a 72-run win over Warwickshire in the U18’s County Championship at Barnt Green on Thursday.
Elliot Wilson’s side had no time to rest on their laurels after Sunday’s thrilling County Cup win over their near neighbours, as they were back in action in the U18s County Championship against the same opposition just 48 hours later.
Captain, Flynn Gunston, won the toss and elected to bat first, with the start of play delayed until 2:30pm due to some early morning rain.
Gunston however, could only manage 16, before he was the first wicket of the match to fall when he was beaten by a nip backing delivery that shot through his defences in the fourth-over.
Sohaym Maddekar’s stay at the crease was short-lived as he was caught off a leading edge to second slip, as Worcestershire slipped to 32-2 early on.
It was then the turn of Alfie Higgins to join opener Joe Harrison, as the pair looked to rebuild things for the home side.
Harrison showed excellent strength through the offside, picking off Warwickshire’s bowlers with relative ease on his way to a 62-ball-50, leading his side past 100 in the process.
Higgins continued to play a tempered supporting role, as he neared a deserved half-century of his own, but with Worcestershire reaching the 150 milestone, Higgins fell for 49 as he was trapped in front LBW by one that shot back on him.
Only two more overs were possible in the day, before rain came in once again at 5pm, with play abandoned late on.
Moving into the second day, Harrison notched up a classy hundred, on his way to 118 from 134 balls, a fine knock that included 19 boundaries, while Joe Porter came in at number five a made his way to 89 not-out as he pushed his side up to 308-6, before they declared and set about applying some early pressure on their opponents in the field.
It was the same story of more dominance for Worcestershire as the match went on, in the process of skittling Warwickshire for 164 in just over 50 overs.
Josh Leach was the standout bowler for Worcestershire, returning sensational figures of 5-57 from his 16 over spell, as he combined in fine fashion with the in-form Tom Odell (3-36) as Ollie Smith took the other wicket in a polished display for the hosts.
With a substantial lead already in the bank, there were plenty of starts across the Worcestershire card without anyone kicking on saw them stutter their way to 176 all-out in a competitive third innings of the match.
Gunston (29) and Harrison (37) both made starts at the top but were unable to kick-on as the Pears slipped to 86-4, with nobody else in the middle order making a score over 15.
Number eight, Ben Jones then rescued his side, dragging them out of real trouble at 108-6, with a counter-attacking 45 from 39 balls, to help his side to 176 before he was the last man out.
Warwickshire required 322 to win, with the final day set-up for another grandstand finish.
Back-to-back fifty partnerships put Warwickshire in control of the chase, as breakthroughs from Josh Leach and Assadullah Azami saw the scoreboard read 129-2.
Alfie Higgins made a third inroad, before Azami and Leach returned to reduce the visitors to 177-5, with things very much in the balance.
Azami, who ended with superb figures of 5-66 from a pinpoint 23 over spell, was the pick of the bowlers in the end for Elliot Wilson’s side but was ably supported by the rest of the promising attack.
It was Tom Odell (2-57) who got the key wicket for his side, as he removed the in and set Walley for 30, as he and the aforementioned Azami cleaned up the tail to secure a clinical 72-run win.
