[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Day Two

Morning: Gloomy, louring Friday skies offered the Durham attack all the help they could possibly desire early in the day, with Daryl Mitchell LBW to an inswinger for 5 and Jake Libby edging behind for 24 off Ben Raine. The third-wicket pair fought hard under the floodlights, but Jack Haynes soon came undone as he was given LBW for 8 to Chris Rushworth, leaving Tom Fell and Brett D'Oliveira to battle their way to lunch on a far-from-ideal 60-3.

Afternoon: However far from ideal 60-3 may have been, it was to get a whole lot worse after the break. Dolly was the first to go, LBW for 10, before Fell (who'd been dropped on 40) finally ran out of luck and was bowled for 44 by Brydon Carse. After a couple of early boundaries, Riki Wessels was also bowled for 13 by Rushworth, who then dismissed Ed Barnard LBW for 1, and the collapse was all but complete when Ben Cox nicked behind for 2, leaving the Pears 126-8 and staring at a huge first-innings deficit. However, not for the first time this season, Joe Leach came in and played a real skipper's innings to shepherd the tail, frustrate the bowlers and shift the score on. He was ably supported by Josh Tongue until the latter was bowled for 17 by Carse; at 158-9 the work still wasn't done, and the last-wicket partnership went on to surpass the previous best for a Worcs tenth-wicket stand against Durham, narrowly beating the 54 posted by Stuart Lampitt and Alamgir Sheriyar at Kidderminster in August 2001, before Charlie Morris was bowled for 21 by Rushworth to close the session with the Pears all out for a competitive 213.

Evening: There was already a suspicion that batting was an easier task after the Worcestershire tail wagged, and sure enough, only one wicket fell in the evening as Morris yorked Alex Lees with an inswinger for 12. Will Young and Scott Borthwick were comfortable at the crease from that point on, reaching stumps with the score on 79-1, the lead standing at 112.