[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Day Two

Morning: A bright but cold Friday morning by the River Can, and despite beating the bat several times, the early momentum wasn't with the visitors. Tom Westley reached three figures before the eventual breakthrough came, and it was his partner Paul Walter to depart, nicking an Ed Barnard ball to second slip for 38. Ryan ten Doeschate came in bent on scoring quickly, but on the stroke of lunch Brett D'Oliveira was rewarded for his persistence when he floated up a straight ball which the Dutchman missed with the bat, and was dismissed LBW for a brisk 30. Still, Essex stood on an ominous 312-5 at lunch.

Afternoon: With the flags at half-mast to mark the Duke of Edinburgh's death, Westley and Adam Wheater put together a troublesome partnership that piled on 127 for no loss during the second session, bringing up the double century for the former and significantly diminishing Worcestershire's hopes as they carried the hosts to 439-5 at tea.

Evening: Feeling free to hit out at will, the wickets finally tumbled as the sun declined. Westley was first to go for 213 when he skipped down the pitch to Dolly and slogged an agricultural shot to wide long-on; Charlie Morris then capitalised with a ball that kept low and surprised Simon Harmer for pace, adjudged LBW for 1, and claimed the wicket of Ben Allison for 13 when the latter pulled to deep midwicket. There was time for Dolly to claim one more when Wheater departed for 87 in a similar fashion to Westley, and then the Essex declaration came on 490-9. With twenty-six overs for the Pears to negotiate before stumps, the openers navigated a cautious path to 32-0 off the new ball, only for an absolute hammer-blow to fall at the day's end as Sam Cook bowled Daryl Mitchell for 16 before removing both Tom Fell and debutant Gareth Roderick for a duck apiece, each caught at slip. Reaching a miserable 43-3 at stumps, there'll be a long time overnight for the Pears to contemplate the two days that now have to be batted out to save this game.