[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

Day Four

Morning: A cloudy Sunday morning, and Kent's admirable resistance continued for a while courtesy of the tail, with Tom Taylor eventually bowling Akeem Jordan - formerly of West Bromwich Dartmouth - for 7 half an hour into the day. A quarter of an hour later Worcestershire had their target, as Joe Leach had George Garrett caught behind for 6 to bowl Kent out for 376 and leave the Pears with 101 to knock off, but the loss of both Gareth Roderick and Jake Libby raised the possibility of further fun and games as the hosts went into lunch 55-2.

Afternoon: As a commentator wryly observed, the weekend's motto for the Pears faithful had been "come on, you've had your fun," first as Muyeye shredded our commanding lead, then as the Kent bowlers dismissed our openers, and finally as incoming rain delayed the restart with just 46 required. But ultimately, nothing could stand in the way of Rob Jones and Kashif Ali when they got back out in the middle, and if the latter's final push to find the winning boundaries was a little cavalier then it was no less enthusiastically received around New Road as the must-win match was decisively won.

Worcestershire WIN by eight wickets

The Verdict: Before so much as a ball was bowled this season, this fixture was earmarked as one in which we had to rack up points to stand a chance of survival, and that material need for victory gained something of a spiritual element with the disappointing final week of the One-Day Cup capping a white-ball summer in which defeat was all too often snatched from the jaws of triumph. Nothing, therefore, could have been more welcome on all fronts than this thoroughly convincing performance which lifts the Pears up to 6th in the table, plunging Lancs, Notts and Warks into fresh danger below us. The remaining schedule alternates tough journeys to Essex and Hants with home games against the aforementioned Bears and Red Rose, and as things stand, one solid 20-point win plus nine or ten assorted bonus points - or even two good draws plus six or seven bonuses - could be enough for us. So the pressure's largely off at Chelmsford next weekend; but what a joy it would be to see this red-ball momentum continue.