[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

vs Northamptonshire

County Championship, Division Two

Wantage Road, Northampton

Day One: A surprising decision from the Pears as they declined the toss on a scorching hot late-May morning and instead put Northants straight in to bat.  However, it proved to be a wise decision by Joe Leach as the Worcestershire bowling attack made the ball zip and seam on a dry, biscuit-brown pitch, and sent some Northants wickets tumbling.  Leach himself took three, with another three for Jack Shantry, and with the home side 161-8 things looked ideal for the visitors.  But the Northants tail wagged to give them a total of 238 all out, which Worcestershire set about chasing down with purpose.  Though Dolly went on 35 and Tom Fell was trapped LBW for a six-ball duck, the Pears were 108-2 at close of play, trailing Northants by 130 runs and considerably the happier of the two sides.  Daryl Mitchell brought up his half-century and remains at the crease on 52 not out, and though thunderstorms are a possibility tomorrow, hopefully he can push on and give Worcestershire a real platform to make it six consecutive Championship wins.

Day Two: Slow and steady wins the race for Worcestershire.  A day of sensible, patient batting from the visitors brought up a century for Daryl Mitchell before he was dismissed LBW on 161, and a creditable 76 from Pepsi helped the Pears to maximum batting points, finishing on 434 all out with a first-innings lead of 196.  Firmly in command of the match, there was time to take a couple of Northants wickets before the day's end, with Joe Leach bowling Holden and Jack Shantry dismissing Wakely.  The home side are 53-2 at close of play, trailing Worcestershire by 143 runs and facing the prospect of batting for nearly two days if they want to take anything from this match.  The forecast looks good, and the Pears are well on course for their sixth successive Championship win.

Day Three: A much better performance with the bat from Northants, who managed to achieve parity on Sunday afternoon before going on to set the Pears a total of 148 to win.  Though the home side managed to dismiss both Dolly and Tom Fell to keep things interesting, there was no stopping Daryl Mitchell, who decided to wrap things up before the fourth day with 78 off as many balls, including twelve fours and a six.  The sixth successive Championship win is in the bag, four of them coming this season, which makes this Worcestershire's best start since 1964. They're the only county remaining with a 100% first-class win record in 2017, and fingers crossed this form will hold through next month and the final stages of the One-Day Cup.

Worcestershire WIN by eight wickets

Star Performer: Great to see Nathan Lyon among the wickets in this match, but with two centuries in two weekends (and what would almost certainly have been a third if he'd been able to bat on), it's outstanding stuff right now from the veteran Daryl Mitchell. Long may it continue.

Next Match: Worcestershire travel to Hove next weekend in the hope of extending the astonishing winning streak with a victory against the rather vulnerable Sussex.