[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Day Three

Morning: Overnight frost heralded a nippy Saturday morn, though the sun was on show once again. The day wasn't three overs old when Joe Leach added to his Friday tally, rapping Colin Ackermann's pad just outside off-stump with no shot offered from the South African, who was obliged to depart LBW for 12. Lewis Hill continued to rattle along with a high strike rate, reaching his half-century off sixty-one balls as he attempted a rebuild with Harry Swindells, but the latter gifted a first wicket of the season to Ed Barnard when he got himself in a muddle and was bowled off an inside edge for 16, before the all-rounder struck again in his next over, drawing a false shot from Ben Mike that was caught at mid-on for 4. Lunch was taken with Leicestershire 128-6, having scored 86 for the loss of 3 wickets in the session; a fairly even morning in most circumstances, but a good one for the Pears in the context of the game.

Afternoon: The prize scalp came hot on the heels of the restart, and it was a first of the season for Dillon Pennington when Lewis Hill - who'd done enough at the crease to deserve a century - chopped on to his off-stump for 93. The home side's resistance crumbled somewhat from there, with Callum Parkinson LBW for 7 to Charlie Morris off the final ball of his over, then Ed Barnes leg-before for 23 to Leach off the final ball of the next. As the Foxes slumped to 165-9, still 34 short of the follow-on, Chris Wright and Beuran Hendricks did an admirable job of digging in over the next hour, frustrating the Worcs attack with some rock-solid defensive shots and a few assured boundaries. Having saved the follow-on with their heroic last stand and brought up a batting point to boot, Chris Wright got a touch greedy and tried to hoist Josh Baker down the ground on the stroke of tea, only to hole out for 32 and grant the young spinner his first scalp of the summer. Tea was thus taken in the innings break, with Worcestershire sitting on a handsome lead of 135.

Evening: If ever there was a show of intent on this cold Saturday, it was the sight of Ed Pollock slapping three deliveries to the boundary off the very first over of the second innings. It took just eight and a half overs for the Pears openers to compile an unbeaten partnership of fifty, and Pollock was the more aggressive of the pair, reaching his own half-century off forty-five balls with a back-to-back six and a four. Worcs were 125-0 by the time Jake Libby completed his fifty, and still the onslaught continued in the thin evening sunshine. Only when trying to force the run-rate higher still did Libby end up bowled for 75 by Ben Mike; that opened the door a little, and an attempt to sweep Callum Parkinson shortly after resulted in Azhar Ali perishing LBW for 1 in a debut to forget. There could scarcely have been a greater contrast as Pollock marked his own Pears and Championship debut by completing a 112-ball century minutes later, before holing out to Mike for an eventual 112. With no declaration in sight, Jack Haynes was caught at mid-on for a brisk 29, and new man Ed Barnard copped a golden duck as he was bowled attempting to make room for a square cut, leaving the Pears 234-5 as bad light forced a premature close.

The lead stands at 369 heading into the final day, and Dolly has the pleasant headache overnight of deciding whether that's a defendable total on a surface that might be growing a trifle placid, or if it's worth having five overs in the morning to put the win well beyond the reach of the hosts.