[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Day Three

Morning: In the splendid April sunlight, the Pears wasted no time in getting stuck into the Leicestershire middle order, and nightwatchman Chris Wright was the first to perish, attempting to drive Ed Barnard through the onside only to clip the ball straight to Hamish Rutherford at midwicket. Following a miserable Friday, Wayne Parnell then got back among the wickets, trapping Harry Dearden LBW as he attempted a flick off the pads from a full ball, and taking the prize scalp of Ateeq Javid for 69 when he got a ball to nip away from the opener, whose edged drive carried sharply to Riki Wessels at first slip. The Foxes were 289-7 at lunch, with another session chalked firmly up for Worcestershire.

Afternoon: With the new cherry in hand, it was all over in no time. Josh Tongue accounted for both Lewis Hill and Tom Taylor, prising sufficient movement from the pitch to coax an outside edge from each, before Ed Barnard polished off the home side with a slower short ball that deceived Ben Mike on the pull, top-edging it into the clear blue sky to be caught at slip. The inevitable dilemma ensued for skipper Ben Cox: enforce the follow-on with Worcs still some 250 runs to the good? It seemed the wisest choice, and when Charlie Morris promptly demolished the Foxes top order, the acting captain was apparently vindicated. Javid was bowled for 5, while Horton and Cosgrove departed in a single over, and at tea it all seemed reassuringly easy.

Evening: But in Worcestershire World, nothing is ever easy. After the interval, Hasan Azad and Colin Ackermann stuck together at the crease to frustrate the Pears for well over an hour, with the former bringing up his half-century in the process. To their credit, with the exception of a few loose overs when tired limbs and aching backs resulted in a glut of boundaries, the Worcs attack stuck to the job and strangled the run-rate, and it was well deserved in the end when Josh Tongue fired in a wicked bouncer that Azad took his eye off, his clumsy defence looping the ball up for Mitch to take at gully. Ackermann remained at the crease, joined by nightwatchman Chris Wright who finished the day precisely where he started it; Leicestershire closed on 132-4, still 120 runs shy of making Worcestershire bat again. In the circumstances, the Pears are in about as good a position as could be hoped for, and if they can replicate today's efforts on day four then it should be a winning start to the campaign.