[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Day Three

Morning: To their boundless credit, the Pears came out on Sunday morning with every intention of making amends for Saturday's iffy batting, and Brett D'Oliveira brought up his first fifty of the campaign before departing for 54. Josh Baker made a cameo of just 8 before being caught and bowled, and at 279-8 the hosts would have had every expectation of batting again soon with a three-figure lead in hand, but they reckoned without Nathan Smith and Joe Leach occupying the crease stubbornly until lunch, knocking off an extra fifty runs en route to 331-8. With 111 scored for the loss of just two wickets, it was the first session in the match that Worcestershire could indisputably claim.

Afternoon: A fantastic half-century from Smudge came to an end on 58 with a pull that he couldn't quite get on top of, but one more bonus point was our reward for the day's resilience before Adam Finch was bowled round his legs for 3, leaving the Pears 355 all out, trailing by 44. There would, however, be no joy with the new ball in the second half of the session as Notts made it to tea without loss, 59-0 with the lead at 103.

Evening: For an hour and more after tea, it seemed the most thankless of tasks; the Kookaburra was turning slowly to sponge, the hosts were scoring briskly but without any discernable intention of taking risks to set a quick target, and even the dismissal of Haseeb Hameed for 40 by Baker only seemed a consolation on the long road to an inevitable draw. Yet suddenly, in one of those incredible reversals that make cricket such a joy, the last hour turned everything upside down. In a single over, Smudge first had Ben Duckett caught at square leg for 63, then two deliveries later saw Joe Clarke inside-edge a ball past the stumps and into the left glove of Gareth Roderick (whose reflex spring to the side was more grasshopper than cricket) for a silver duck, before the final ball of the over completed a triple-wicket maiden when it thudded into the pad of Matt Montgomery for a bronze duck. In his very next over, the Kiwi set up a potential hat-trick when he clattered the stumps of Jack Haynes for 1, and though there were to be no further scalps for him, the collapse proved contagious; Baker got in on the act as he coaxed Ben Slater into clipping one straight to short leg for 23, and Finchy saw off Calvin Harrison with a full ball nipping in which the tail-ender left, only to see it cartwheel his off-stump for 3. 151-7 at close with a lead of 195, it was emphatically Worcestershire's day, and the Pears have managed to set up a blockbuster final day if only the weather will co-operate.