[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Day Four

Morning: A bright and breezy Sunday with plenty of cloud and patchy sunshine, and it didn't take long for the wheels to come off. Riki Wessels made it only to 33 when he chopped on from Sam Cook, and though Ben Cox tried to be positive and find the boundary with frequency, he too only made it to 37 before Cook bowled him through the gate. The morning went from bad to worse as Alzarri Joseph departed LBW for a duck and Ed Barnard followed him back to the pavilion after Simon Harmer bowled him for 1 with a ball that spun back sharply from outside off, and before the cathedral bells had even tolled noon, the death knell was sounding for Plan A of beating the follow-on. But credit was due to Dillon Pennington and Charlie Morris for digging in over the next three-quarters of an hour, soaking up precious time and adding a few good runs; the former even pulling Dan Lawrence for six before attempring the same trick again and being bowled for 30. All out for 364, the Pears were unsurprisingly asked to follow on, and the openers negotiated three overs to take the hosts in to lunch on 2-0.

Afternoon: Despite a few boundaries to keep the scoreboard ticking, Daryl Mitchell was a trifle too blase in shouldering arms to Sam Cook early in the session, and was promptly bowled for 20 by a ball that nipped back. But new man Tom Fell was solid as a rock alongside the equally redoubtable Jake Libby, frustrating the Essex attack for the remainder of the session and taking the Pears to tea on 105-1.

Evening: With the draw now looking a foregone conclusion, there was time for one final wobble as Fell was adjudged LBW to the first ball of the evening session and departed for a battling 35. The champions might have been in with a sniff if they'd picked up another quick couple, but Gareth Roderick was very much batting for his place in the team after a first-innings duck, and once he'd survived an early caught-and-bowled chance that went down, he battened down the hatches well. Libby was typically unflustered, dealing with everything the visitors sent down, and had only one brief scare when a strong LBW shout with no shot offered was denied; his half-century followed soon after. It was all academic from there on, and having followed the same pattern as the season's first game for four full days, this match concluded in the same fashion: with an early fist-bump to share the spoils.

Match DRAWN

The Verdict: To have held the champions to a draw twice, even on placid pitches, is as good as it gets for the Pears, who are now the only unbeaten team in a tight Group One, where the top five teams are separated by only five points. Sooner or later a win will be needed if Worcs hope to sit at the top table, and the task won't be easy with a trip to Edgbaston on the cards next weekend. But the county continue to show resilience in situations where they'd have folded in previous seasons, and overall, that bodes well.