Worcestershire’s superb unbeaten run came to an end when they went down by 235 runs on the final morning of the Vitality County Championship match with Hampshire at the Utilita Bowl.
Three successive wins against Durham, Kent and Essex plus a draw with Warwickshire had played a major part in Worcestershire securing their Division One spot for the 2025 campaign.
They then completed the task with four bonus points against Hampshire – one for batting and three for bowling.
It has been a splendid sequence of results and lifted them clear of the bottom two and the threat of relegation with a game and a half to spare.
Now the focus will be on trying to end the campaign on a successful note against Lancashire at Visit Worcestershire New Road starting next Thursday.
Worcestershire resumed on 117-5 and Jake Libby and Ethan Brookes added a further 15 runs before Kyle Abbott made the first breakthrough of the morning.
First innings century-maker Brookes (30) went to pull a delivery but gloved it down the leg side and Toby Albert at leg slip pulled off a superb one handed catch away to his right.
Libby’s determined knock, during which he went past 700 Championship runs for the summer, was also ended by Abbott on 57 as he edged to James Vince at first slip.
Worcestershire then suffered their second run out of the innings when Logan van Beek turned Liam Dawson on the leg side.
Joe Leach at the non-striker’s end came well down the pitch and was run out by Albert’s direct hit at the non-striker’s end as he tried to regain his ground at 137-8.
Van Beek (5) was caught behind by Ben Brown off Abbott after pushing forward before injured last man Tom Taylor came to the wicket with Kashif Ali as a runner.
Taylor pulled his first delivery for four at Abbott’s expense and then Amar Virdi clubbed Dawson for four boundaries in an over.
The game ended with the total on 158 with Abbott’s fifth wicket of the innings as Taylor also nicked through to Brown to leave Virdi unbeaten on 16.
