[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

County Championship, Group One

vs Nottinghamshire

Day One

Morning: Pears won the toss and elected to bat on a clear, sunny Thursday morning with an April nip in the air. It was a good toss to win and an equally good decision to make, as the Worcestershire openers punished some early sloppiness from the Notts new-ball bowlers. With a clinical array of cover-drives, square cuts and leg-glances, the Pears brought up the fifty partnership within a dozen overs, forcing the visitors to bring on Luke Fletcher and some early spin in the form of left-armer Liam Patterson-White in an effort to put the brakes on. This succeeded for a while, though Jake Libby did prove willing and able to belt the spinner down the ground a couple of times for four and then six as he raced ahead on the scoreboard. The completion of his half-century, and Worcestershire's unbeaten progression into three figures, was symbolic of the session as a whole as he picked up an easy couple from a shot to deep cover before keeper Tom Moores received the ball and attempted a wild throw at the bowler's stumps which skipped away for four needless overthrows. Despite a chance going down at leg-gully in the last throes of the morning, lunch thus arrived with the hosts sitting pretty on 122-0.

Afternoon: Things continued in the same vein for a while after the break, with Daryl Mitchell bringing up his first fifty of the season when he glanced Zak Chappell off the hip down to fine leg for four, but the Worcs veteran paid the price for his positive attitude shortly afterward when he attempted to drive a rising delivery from Fletcher and edged behind for 59. That wicket proved the talisman for Notts. Tom Fell was LBW for 1 playing a full ball from Chappell across the line; Gareth Roderick then also went for 1, tempted by a Dane Paterson delivery that moved away from him and was edged behind. On 3, Brett D'Oliveira hesitated for a fatal second when called through for a quick single by Libby, and was run out by a direct hit, though amid the carnage the former Notts man managed to reach the personal milestone of another fine century when he picked up a Paterson short ball on the pull and deposited it in the stand for six. But the hosts suffered another blow on the stroke of tea when Patterson-White, who'd coaxed a little turn from the surface here and there since the morning, got a ball pitching on middle stump to beat the bat of Riki Wessels and clip the top of off, sending the other former Notts batsman packing for 13. From 140-0 to 210-5, things no longer looked so rosy, and they were to get worse yet.

Evening: Under the sinking sun, another tempting ball outside off from Fletcher accounted for Libby, whose swashbuckling innings ended caught behind for 117. After last Sunday's heroics, Ben Cox didn't even make it off the mark as he fell LBW for a duck attempting to paddle-sweep Patterson-White, and at 216-7 the county was at risk of a total and embarrassing collapse. It was down to the ever-reliable Ed Barnard and new man Alzarri Joseph to offer some resistance, and thankfully, resist they did. Though the latter couldn't resist a couple of big hits, thumping Fletcher over cow corner for six on one occasion, the pair played with great concentration and offered few chances as they guided the Pears to 305-7 at stumps. Having won the toss and batted, being above 300 with wickets in hand at day's end would have seemed an ideal outcome before a ball was bowled, though the spectre of having been on 140-0 remains. It's now vital that the pair at the crease stick around for a good spell tomorrow and push the score as far towards 350 or even 400 as they can. The pitch is offering a little, especially for a spinner, but players who get themselves in have been making hay, and scoreboard pressure could prove vital to Worcestershire's bowlers.