[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Day Two

Morning: More of the same weatherwise, and thankfully only a further ten runs were added to the overnight score before Joe Leach enticed Jack Carson into attempting a straight drive and bowled him for 87. As in the Sussex innings, the early overs of the reply were relatively drama-free, but after a couple of streaky shots Jake Libby was bowled by Fynn Hudson-Prentice for 28, and the inevitable procession began. Daryl Mitchell was caught behind for 16, and Tom Fell contributed just 11 before being caught at short leg. Thanks to a small rebuild from Jack Haynes and Brett D'Oliveira, the Pears reached lunch on a precarious 82-3.

Afternoon: Some positive counter-attacking play from the fourth-wicket partnership carried the home side up to 147, but just as things were starting to look up, Haynes was bowled for 47 by a ball that kept low from Dan Ibrahim, and bad light curtailed the session.

Evening: Under leaden skies, a collapse ripped the heart out of the Worcs middle order, with Ed Barnard caught at second slip for 17, Ben Cox caught behind for a duck, and Dolly also edging behind for 38. Bad light intervened again on 180-7, and though a few further overs were squeezed in before close, only six more runs were added to the total. As suspected and feared, failure to mop up the Sussex tail looks to have hurt Worcestershire in this match, and it'll take a valiant effort to reduce the arrears of 78 runs and maintain a foothold in the game tomorrow.