[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Day Two

Morning: There were no calamities by the sea for Worcestershire on Monday morning as Daryl Mitchell and Tom Fell safely negotiated the first hour, producing an assured batting performance that belied both Yorkshire's showing on Sunday, and pretty much every other innings the Pears themselves have played all season. A little before lunch, Nelson struck as Fell was pinned LBW by Jack Brooks, but that would prove the only ray of sunshine for the home side on a long, grey day.

Afternoon: With Moeen Ali at the crease, Worcestershire continued to grind down the Yorkshire bowling attack all afternoon, giving Mitch ample time to complete the thirty-third century of his first-class career; a timely ton that lifted him up to seventh in the county's list of all-time century-makers, above both Ron Headley and Tom Moody. The session concluded early as a band of rain swept in, but the Pears had already achieved parity and begun to set a first-innings lead with nine wickets still in hand.

Evening: The rain persisted for an hour and a half, but upon resumption at 4:50 everything continued as it had before. Moeen continued to find the boundary with ease en route to completing his own twentieth first-class century - his first for Worcestershire in the Championship since April 2016 - and not long after, he was dropped by Matt Fisher at long leg in the last action before bad light forced an early conclusion for the second day in a row. Worcestershire close on 310-1 with a first-innings lead of 94 runs, and license to go hard tomorrow. Mitch and Mo are closing in on a record second-wicket partnership for the county, and it'd be great to see them complete that; otherwise, the task is simply to push the lead up to 300+ within the first couple of sessions and then set about bowling Yorkshire out for a vital win.