[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Day Two

Morning: The fifteen-month absence of Josh Tongue was long enough to forget what a proficient tail-end batsman the young man is, but he refreshed our memories on a grey Wednesday morning at New Road with some elegant drives through cover and down the ground, almost stealing the thunder from Gareth Roderick, who completed his second century in as many matches to a rapturous ovation. Sadly, he departed LBW to Brett Hutton for 102, but Tongue took command with the aid of an 18-run cameo from Dillon Pennington, and surpassed his previous first-class best en route to an unbeaten 45, where he was left stranded when Ben Gibbon - having already pulled Hutton for one six - tried to repeat the feat and holed out to end the innings on an imposing 390. Lunch would already have tasted sweet, but it grew sweeter still when Pennington opened the wicket account by removing Ben Slater's middle stump as the Notts opener tried to work the ball on the on-side. 12-1 at the interval, the session firmly belonged to the Pears, but there was no inkling yet of just how enjoyable the day would prove to be...

Afternoon: With the innings still only five overs old, the new ball was swinging round corners, and Ben Gibbon got his reward for bowling a tight line over the wicket when a good-length ball got a thick edge from Matthew Montgomery and finally stuck in the hands of third slip after an impromptu juggling act. Thankfully, there were far safer hands behind the stumps to remove Joe Clarke as the ex-Pear glanced Pennington down the leg-side and Rodders produced a Lev Yashin cat-leap to snaffle the ball one-handed above shoulder height some eight feet from his starting position. Matthew Waite then christened his full-time stint as a Pear by pitching up an inswinger to Lyndon James which the Notts man allowed to clatter his off stump with no shot offered. A brief recovery followed, and there was a small chance that the visitors' middle order might repair the rocky start as Worcestershire had done on day one, but Ed Barnard suddenly went into overdrive at half past two, having Steven Mullaney caught at first slip, bowling Tom Moores for a duck as the keeper tried to leave but inside-edged onto the base of off stump, having the resilient Haseeb Hameed caught behind, then bowling Hutton with the very next ball. That astonishing spell of 4-1 reduced Notts to 96-8, and Liam Patterson-White responded by unleashing some big shots, but Pennington bowled Jake Ball for a duck and finally ended Patterson-White's spree as he holed out to Azhar Ali on the pull. A phenomenal nine-wicket session saw Notts bowled out for 128, the first time all season that they've failed to take a single batting point, and trailing by 262 at tea, the follow-on was enforced.

Evening: The excellent development of Gibbon continued apace as the left-armer nipped one in to bowl Slater through the gate, then removed Montgomery chopping on with an attempted drive. The young man came perilously close to legend status when he had Joe Clarke caught behind for 1, pouched down the leg-side for the second time in less than three hours, and when he was rested from the attack, Waite picked up where he'd left off, seeing Lyndon James off caught behind and then bowling Steven Mullaney. From 66-5, led by the ever-impressive Haseeb Hameed - whose first innings tally carried him past 1000 Championship runs for the season - Notts did stage another minor recovery, but having started the day in such style, it was only fitting that Tongue should end it with equal elan, producing a full, pacey delivery that straightened and took the edge of Hameed, who was duly caught behind. With Notts 129-6 at close of play, still trailing by 133, this was not only the finest day's cricket the Pears have produced all year, but their best against opposition of such strength for four years or more. A first triumph over Nottinghamshire since 2017 is firmly in sight, but having snatched defeat from the jaws of victory twice already in 2022, Worcs would do well to approach tomorrow with the same exemplary effort and application as today, lest Moores and Patterson-White get themselves in and see a glimmer of hope.