Day Four

Hampshire fought hard but Worcestershire defied the visitors on the final day at Visit Worcestershire New Road, as the Rothesay County Championship Division One fixture ended in a gripping draw.

Chasing a daunting target of 358 in just 53 overs after Hampshire’s enterprising post-lunch declaration on 313/7, the home side carried hope of completing one of the Championship’s most dramatic final day turnarounds.

In a match that ebbed and flowed throughout, it was Jake Libby’s second magnificent century of the game, a perfectly judged 106 off 122 balls, that fuelled Worcestershire’s pursuit.

With solid support from Kashif Ali (65 from 79) and a string of aggressive cameos down the order, the chase was very much alive deep into the final hour.

But with wickets falling, the hosts closed on 303/8, with Hampshire taking seven out of the nine wickets they needed for victory in the final 36 overs of the match.

Resuming on 139/2 overnight, Hampshire batted with purpose to build their second innings lead, despite a short interruption from rain.

Nick Gubbins anchored the innings with a fluent 84, while Tilak Varma added 38 and Felix Organ struck an unbeaten 45 from 54 balls.

There were contributions all the way down the order, with Joe Weatherley (25), Tom Prest (27), and James Fuller (26) all chipping in to maintain momentum.

Ben Allison (2-58) and Ethan Brookes (2-54) were the pick of the Worcestershire attack, with Taylor, Waite, and Finch each taking a wicket.

Hampshire’s declaration just after lunch, setting Worcestershire 358 to win in a minimum of 53 overs, showed real intent, and set the stage for an enthralling afternoon.

Worcestershire’s chase got off to a stuttering start when Gareth Roderick was adjudged run out for four in the very first over, but from then on, the home side turned the game on its head.

Libby and Kashif Ali added a superb 134 for the second wicket in just over an hour and a half. The pair struck the ball cleanly and rotated the strike with authority, bringing up their respective half-centuries in fine style.

Libby, who had scored just one previous Championship hundred this season, was timing the ball sweetly and accelerated confidently after reaching fifty.

Kashif, too, looked composed, striking six fours and two sixes before falling lbw to Sonny Baker for a brisk 65.

At tea, Worcestershire were 61/1 from 15 overs, very much in the game.

The final session saw drama at every turn. Worcestershire kept pushing with a string of aggressive middle-order contributions.

Adam Hose clubbed a quick 25 from 18 balls before being bowled trying to ramp Eddie Jack, who proved a key figure with 3-63.

Brookes (12), D’Oliveira (37 off 23), Waite (19), and Taylor (25 from 18) all took the fight to Hampshire’s bowlers, but wickets began to fall regularly, and the required rate kept climbing.

Libby reached a majestic hundred, his 13th for Worcestershire, but was finally bowled by Fuller as he looked to push on, the score 213/5.

Still, the hosts didn’t relent. D’Oliveira’s cameo, five crisp boundaries in 23 balls, briefly reignited hopes, but follow the Worcestershire skipper’s demise, the hosts changed tack and looked to defy the Hampshire bowlers just less than six overs left in the game.

Tom Taylor didn’t quite get the memo and was cleaned up by Baker with eight balls remaining, but Ben Allison was resolute at the other end and blocked out the five Kyle Abbott deliveries he needed to ensure hands were shaken on a draw.

Day Three

Sonny Baker’s five-wicket haul and a Nick Gubbins half-century helped drive Hampshire into the ascendency on Day Three of the Rothesay County Championship clash against Worcestershire.

Baker’s morning burst of three wickets saw him to figures of 5-72, as Jake Libby’s unbeaten 100 could not see Worcestershire into the lead despite early promise, as his side were bowled out for 249.

With a lead of 44, the visitors batted through the day with relative comfort on a flattening wicket, as Joe Weatherly and Fletcha Middleton made early progress for their side.

Nick Gubbins then scored an unbeaten 55 to see his side to 139-2 at the close, with the away side well in the hunt for a third County Championship victory of the season.

With a lengthy delay to the start of proceedings on the third morning of the match, Hampshire enjoyed an excellent start to the day as youngster Sonny Baker produced an eye-catching three wicket burst to reduce Worcestershire to 189-5.

The visitors welcomed a stroke of luck in the second over of the day when Adam Hose feathered a strangle down the legside, to depart without adding to his overnight score, before Baker picked up the wickets of Brett D’Oliveira (1) and Ethan Brookes (0) as the hosts reeled under the clouds at Visit Worcestershire New Road.

Searching for their first Rothesay County Championship win since mid-May, Hampshire began the afternoon session in similar vein to the morning, with Libby watching his side fall behind in the contest.

Matthew Waite helped add 34 with the Worcestershire opener before he nicked off to James Fuller for a cautious 21 as the Division One strugglers watched another promising position fall away beneath them as they limped to 223-6.

Part-timer Nick Gubbins was thrown the ball in the 80^th over of the innings as the visitors looked to move things on before taking the new ball but were overjoyed when Tom Taylor was pinned LBW in an innocuous over as the home side slid further behind the eight-ball.

Hampshire tightened their grip on the match, as Kyle Abbott (1-27) and Baker removed Ben Allison and Adam Finch, with Libby 98 not-out and his side still trailing by 46-runs.

Libby added the two runs required to reach a gritty century off 235 balls, registering the first century by a Worcestershire player at Visit Worcestershire New Road this summer.

Baker capped a fine individual performance as he returned in the next over to secure his five-wicket haul and ensure his side took a healthy lead of 44-runs into their second innings, with Worcestershire all-out one run short of a batting bonus-point.

Hampshire lost Joe Weatherley in the 11^th over of their reply, when he was LBW to a full ball from Waite but marched on unphased to pass fifty with comfort.

Fletcha Middleton got in and showed signs of extending his good form from the first innings but was unable to capitalise on his positive start as he was caught behind off an Adam Finch bumper, with his side 120 runs in front.

Nick Gubbins made his way to a comfortable half-century as the evening drew to a close, as he and Tilak Varma batted through to stumps with Hampshire in total control at 139-2, with a commanding 183-run lead heading into the final day.

Day Two

Worcestershire’s Jake Libby and Adam Hose came together for an unbeaten 126 run-stand as Worcestershire enjoyed a dominant day of Rothesay County Championship cricket at Visit Worcestershire New Road against Hampshire, ending the day 187-2. 

Tom Taylor (5-55) led from the front as the hosts bowled Hampshire out for 293, with Tom Prest anchoring then innings for the visitors with 54.

That was all the away side could enjoy as they toiled in the afternoon sun, as Libby (70*) and Hose (82*) saw Worcestershire to the close trailing by just 107 runs.  

The hosts, buoyed by the late wickets poached from the night previous, were jubilant once more as Ben Allison produced a jaffa of a delivery to remove Nick Gubbins in just the second over of the morning. 

Eddie Jack continued his rearguard as nightwatcher for Hampshire, batting through the opening hour with poise, while the impressive Tom Taylor (5-55) castled Tilak Varma with a full, swinging delivery to check the visitors progress at 171-4. 

As the sun appeared over Visit Worcestershire New Road, Khurram Shahzad entered the attack for the home side without success, as Tom Prest guided a single down to third-man, easing Hampshire past 200.

It was Adam Finch who reinvigorated his side after the late morning lull, with an energetic spell from the Diglis End of the ground that saw him remove Eddie Jack for a stubborn 29, before returning in his next over to have Ben Brown caught behind, as a positive morning session for the Pears saw them take lunch with their opponents six-wickets down for 213.

Tom Prest continued into the afternoon session but was given a major reprieve when he was dropped at gully on 30, before Felix Organ’s turgid 46-ball stay at the crease was ended when he was bowled by Matthew Waite for three.

James Fuller (41 off 32) played an enterprising cameo that included five boundaries as Hampshire reached 250, shortly after Tom Prest had secured an assured half-century of his own midway through the afternoon session, his second of the season.

The new ball came into effect for the home side in timely fashion, as Taylor returned to remove Prest for 54, Fuller and Baker (0) in quick succession on his way to a second red-ball fifer of the season, taking his tally in the Rothesay County Championship to 42 in what has been a standout campaign for the 30-year-old.

Having wrapped up the visitor’s innings for 293, Gareth Roderick and Jake Libby started the reply in faultless fashion as they navigated their way to tea, 38-0 in the now idyllic batting conditions.

Momentum was wrestled back by the visitors courtesy of two wickets in consecutive overs, shortly after the opening pair had registered their second successive fifty-partnership, when Eddie Jack caught the edge of Roderick, who departed for 26, and James Fuller forced Kashif Ali to chop onto his own stumps. 

Adam Hose joined Libby as they eased their way through the afternoon and into the evening against a lacklustre Hampshire attack, with both batters cashing in on the loose balls on offer and rotating the strike with ease. 

Having registered a record-breaking partnership against the same opponents in the reverse fixture back in June, the pair looked in similar run-scoring moods as they took the home side past 100 in the 33^rd over and batted through to the close with comfort. 

As stumps were called shortly after 7pm, Worcestershire left the field in the driving seat at 187-2 with Libby (70*) and Hose (82*) and Hampshire’s bowling attack facing an uphill battle heading into the third day with a lead of just 107.

Day One

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Worcestershire struck two late blows after Hampshire’s batters had laid a solid foundation on a truncated first day of their Rothesay County Championship match at Visit Worcestershire New Road.

Hampshire, in search of their first championship victory since mid-May, closed on 146 for two having reached 127 without loss before losing openers Fletcha Middleton (79, 101 balls) and Joe Weatherley (62, 130) in a late burst of play in poor light.

They were blows badly needed by Worcestershire, bottom of Division One and desperate for a win to sustain their slender hopes of survival.

After a wet outfield prevented play before lunch, the home side chose to bowl in conditions still damp from morning rain, but the assistance for the seamers they hoped for did not materialise.

Pakistan pace spearhead Khurram Shahzad was expensive as Weatherley and Middleton put 50 on the board by the 14th over.

The Winchester-born openers, perhaps inspired by the adjacence of a cathedral, were little troubled by a Worcestershire attack bruised by last week’s heartbreaking defeat to neighbours Warwickshire.

Having dominated the first half of the match at Edgbaston, the Pears suffered a devastating defeat as Warwickshire chased down 393 on the last day.

Back on home turf, the Worcestershire attack, with Matthew Waite returning from paternity leave in place of Sussex loanee Bertie Foreman, again toiled.

Middleton hurried to his half-century from 51 balls and Weatherley followed to his from 103.

The openers were looking forward to a productive evening session only for the rain to return during the tea interval and prevent play until a late resumption at 6pm.

Hampshire’s openers ventured back out with little to gain and everything to lose – and the home side took advantage of the murky, moist conditions.

Middleton edged Tom Taylor to wicketkeeper Gareth Roderick, who took a superb catch in front of first slip, and Weatherly edged Ben Allison to Ethan Brookes at second slip.

The wickets were an unwelcome postscript to a hitherto excellent day for Hampshire but they have still set down a solid platform from which to push for a victory that would lift them away from the relegation zone – and pretty much sentence Worcestershire to end the season in it.