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Day Four

Morning: Sunday dawned with clear blue skies, and as 370 was deemed a sufficient target, the declaration came with no further ado. Bowling from the Pavilion End, Charlie Morris was the first to make the new ball talk, taking the edge of Sam Evans who was caught behind for 11, while from the Bennett End Dillon Pennington had George Rhodes caught at cover-point for 12. But it was the early introduction of Josh Baker that paid dividends for the Pears as the young left-armer accounted for Colin Ackermann edging to slip for 11, Lewis Hill LBW for 1 and Harry Swindells chopping on for a duck, leaving Leicestershire 82-5 at lunch and seemingly on the ropes.

Afternoon: Throughout a turbulent first session, opener Hassan Azad remained utterly composed, and completed his half-century shortly before two o'clock. His only concern was the possibility of running out of partners, as Ben Mike edged to first slip for 9 off Dillon Pennington, and then Josh Baker achieved career-best figures with his first four-wicket haul as he struck Ed Barnes on the back pad and dismissed him LBW for 15. But already there were signs of the pitch growing a little benign and the old ball offering little assistance; when the eighth-wicket partnership was an hour old, Dolly showed an inspired bit of captaincy in bringing Azhar Ali into the attack, and the Pakistani promptly redeemed his iffy contribution with the bat by having Callum Parkinson caught behind for 14 off his third delivery, sending the sides in for tea with the score 147-8 and the victory tantalisingly in reach.

Evening: But when the Grace Road wicket flattened, it flattened for good. The Pears enjoyed one final bit of luck at half past four when a Pennington delivery rapped Chris Wright on the pad and the tail-ender was adjudged leg-before for 15 despite the ball looking distinctly leg-sidish, but new man Beuran Hendricks - who had already looked a competent and assured batsman in the first innings - proved an immovable object at number eleven. The one half-chance he offered came when a quicker, shorter ball from Joe Leach hurried the South African into a mistimed defence that spooned up into the air, but landed safely on the leg-side between three stranded fielders. As Hassan Azad completed a magnificently tenacious six-hour century, one bowler after another tried their luck with the second new ball, and Azhar Ali nearly got the party started with an unexpected grubber that Hendricks barely slammed the bat down onto in the nick of time. Yet ultimately, the 154-ball last-stand heroes for the home side did more than enough to earn the handshake and the shared points when time finally ran out for Worcestershire at a quarter past six on a fantastic Sunday of Championship cricket.

Match DRAWN

The Verdict: To draw a match from a position where just five more wickets were needed at lunch - then two more at tea, and one more for the final hour and three-quarters of the day - is never a good look, and there can be no doubting that Worcestershire were as disconsolate as Leicestershire were delighted at the close of play. If there are lessons to be learned or fingers to be pointed, the lack of some true pace in the attack to counter the increasingly lifeless pitch is up there, and too many of the Pears bowlers were guilty of some pretty aimless deliveries outside off as the overs ticked down, not forcing the Foxes batsmen to play at the ball and not even giving the tail-enders a bit of top-and-toes treatment now and then. But the loss of game time to rain and bad light, while unavoidable, is a legitimate excuse alongside the trouble-free last-day wicket; equally, it would be churlish not to praise the efforts of Hassan Azad and the Foxes tail-enders in occupying the crease when the chips were down. All in all, there were signs of promise in these three and a half days of cricket, with plenty for Dolly to be proud of in his first outing as captain, and a few indications that Worcestershire might just have what it takes to be in the mix this summer.