[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Day Four

Afternoon: Yet another day that laid claim to being the hottest of the year so far, and though Worcestershire got off to a bright start with 17 runs off the first two overs, suggesting the team might fancy their chances of poaching the 419 needed for victory, the subsequent loss of Daryl Mitchell to a careless tickle down the legside soon put the brakes on. Martin Guptill was the next to go, caught at silly mid-off, and on the stroke of the interval the Pears also lost Tom Fell to an edge behind, leaving them 151-3.

Evening: The session was scarcely ten minutes old when Jake Libby took a one-handed wonder catch to remove Dolly, and though the fifth-wicket partnership lasted over an hour, Ben Cox also departed a little before six o'clock, having been granted a life with a dropped catch early in his innings. From that point on, the key for Worcestershire was always going to be young Joe Clarke, and he shepherded the visitors to the break on 248-5 with just one more run required to bring up his century.

Night: The first over of the game's final session saw Clarke complete his ton, but the job was far from done. As the shadows lengthened, Notts drew an edge from Ross Whiteley to take the sixth wicket and expose the Worcs tail; for an hour and a half thereafter, it was down to young spinner Ben Twohig to stick with Clarke at the crease, and he did admirably until Luke Fletcher beat him with a fast length ball that took his off-stump out of the ground with just four overs to go. Debutant Dillon Pennington came out and survived five balls of a maiden over from Fletcher, only to play an unnecessary flick down the legside into the gloves of the keeper off the final delivery, leaving the Pears eight down with twelve balls remaining. Six of those were summarily dismissed by the imperious Joe Clarke, who steered his way to an effortless 177 not out, and with the tension building around Trent Bridge, it was Charlie Morris who saw out the remainder to give Worcestershire a hard-fought - but on the basis of Thursday's exertions, thoroughly deserved - draw.

Match DRAWN

The Verdict: When two teams so drastically mismatched go head to head and the stronger team dominates the first three days, to come away with a draw feels as good as a win. Joe Clarke was the man of the hour, and he can't have done his chances of getting a look-in for the England Test side any harm with this superb second-innings knock. It's all very tight at the foot of the table, and survival remains unlikely, but Worcestershire are at least giving themselves a fighting chance.

After a week's break, the Pears will be back in action next Thursday in the 2018 T20 Blast.