[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

County Championship, Division One

vs Nottinghamshire

Day Three

Morning: After two full days were washed out, the Pears wasted no time whatsoever in diving head-first into a hole on Sunday morning as they collapsed to 110 all out in a single session. Joe Clarke came out with a little credit, playing good counter-attacking shots in tricky conditions to make his 42.

Afternoon: And yet again, on a pitch that Worcestershire made to look like a minefield, the opposition excelled. Some of it was probably bad luck - many an edge was flying high or falling short rather than going to hand - but some of it was also sloppy line and length, handing out easy four-balls where the Notts seam attack had ruthlessly hit the mark time and again. By tea, Notts were five runs short of first-innings parity and only two wickets down.

Evening: A better final session from the home side, who managed to take four more Notts wickets for less than a hundred runs, including three for skipper Joe Leach, leaving the visitors 204-6 at close of play, with a healthy lead of 94. Tomorrow will be a long game of cat-and-mouse with the weather, but I'd expect Notts to come out swinging in the morning with the aim of piling on as many as they can before lunch, before backing themselves to see off the Pears in the last two sessions, rain permitting. I wouldn't bet against them managing it, too. Some guts, some spine and a whole lot of precipitation needed on the morrow.