[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Day Four

Morning: A sunny Wednesday, and as the first delivery of the day was a full-toss, Gareth Roderick wasted no time in clipping it through midwicket for four, signalling his intentions from the word go; he brought up his half-century, and despite the loss of Rehaan Edavalath caught at first slip for 15 and Adam Hose bowled for 1, the stand-in opener remained at the crease until lunch with the score 132-4, and the largely irrelevant deficit 209.

Afternoon: A 155-ball century for Roderick was the reward for his patience and proactivity, but as the sky clouded over he departed for 123. Yet Ed Pollock, swapping places with him in the batting order, saw off an unlikely 138 deliveries by tea to see the Pears safely in on 196-5.

Evening: In a rain-affected final session with parity 134 long runs away, all Worcestershire had to do was occupy the crease, but after bringing up his fifty, Pollock went for a predictably unnecessary shot and was caught off a top edge for 56. Nevertheless, Matthew Waite and Joe Leach managed to stick together until one scheduled over remained, when Derbyshire shook hands on a distinctly Kookaburra-flavoured draw.

Match DRAWN

The Verdict: An average midsummer encounter that neither side was likely to win, with neither the pitch nor the ball offering much assistance. Concerning first-innings batting once more, and the bowling unit continues to show a rank inability to be consistent with line and length for sustained periods of time, but this time at least, we escaped punishment for it.