[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Day Two

Morning: After much toil with the new ball, Charlie Morris finally made the much-needed breakthrough when Dan Mousley edged behind for 47, opening the door for the Pears. Ed Barnard capitalised in the very next over when Michael Burgess departed for 1 in the same fashion courtesy of a full outswinger, and though Tim Bresnan managed a few characteristic slogs, he too perished soon after, pulling Morris to deep square leg for 17. Tight bowling through the innings forced the Bears to hit out desperately in the closing overs, and Will Rhodes gifted a fourth wicket to Morris as he nicked behind with a big swing for 207, before Alex Thomson obliged with a similar dismissal for 17 off Josh Tongue. That wicket brought the morning to a close with two overs remaining of the innings, and Warwickshire making heavy going on 354-8.

Afternoon: There was time for Charlie Morris to complete his five-fer, with Craig Miles pulling a short ball up into the blue sky and holing out to mid-wicket for a duck. With one wicket and five balls remaining to advance the score, Warwickshire somewhat bizarrely elected to declare at that point, bringing their first innings to a close on 355-9 and allowing the Pears to progress with few alarms to 60-0 in their reply by tea.

Evening: After a tranquil first day and similar conditions in the Glamorgan match, there was always the chance that this pitch was simply a flat deck offering nothing to the bowlers, and the Worcs opening partnership certainly had no undue cause for concern in the lazy Sunday-teatime light. Both openers brought up their fifty in the course of the session, with Daryl Mitchell passing 19,000 career runs in all formats as the Pears reached stumps on a comfortable 170 without loss. Between the flat track and the dismal day four forecast, it'll take a miracle to wring a result from this match, and it's really all about the bonus points for Worcestershire on Monday.