Youngster Dan Lategan’s 77* led Worcestershire’s resistance on a hard-fought second day at Derbyshire as Worcestershire closed the day 113-2, trailing by 512 runs.
A faultless double hundred from Martin Andersson anchored the home side’s innings, before Brett D’Oliveira had the middle-order batter caught and bowled for 228.
The Pears bowling attack, boosted by the return of Adam Finch, continued to plug away, with Derbyshire eventually declaring on 625-8.
Leading the charge in response, was youngster Dan Lategan, who remained stout in his defence as Worcestershire closed day two 113-2, trailing by 512 runs.
Dan Lategan’s composed half-century kept Worcestershire in the hunt after Martin Andersson scored the first double century of the new season on the second day of the Rothesay County Championship match at the Central Co-op County Ground in Derbyshire.
Lategan made his maiden first-class 50 in testing conditions and was unbeaten on 77 when bad light brought an early close with Worcestershire 113 for 2, trailing by 512 runs.
Andersson again took the headlines with a brilliant 228 while Luis Reece made 114 out of a fifth wicket stand of 273 as Derbyshire sailed to 625 for 8 declared, their highest score against Worcestershire.
On another blustery day, Worcestershire’s bowlers toiled hard to little avail as Tom Taylor took three wickets from his 29 overs.
The away side battled hard, against Andersson and Reece, who picked up where they left off from day one, much to the frustration of the visitors, with Brett D’Oliveira’s side working relentlessly in search of another breakthrough.
Taylor, Hannon-Dalby and Waite led the attack for the Pears, who stuck to their task valiantly in spite of the in and set Derbyshire batters.
D’Oliveira’s men continued searching for a breakthrough, but efforts remained unrewarded as Reece completed a fine century from 152 balls.
The stand was broken when Reece tried to clip Brett D’Oliveira off his legs and chipped a catch to mid-wicket, where he was well caught by Ethan Brookes for 114.
Despite a constant barrage before lunch, the Worcestershire bowlers were unable to breakthrough the resistant Derbyshire defences as they looked to add to an already sizeable first-innings score.
Andersson added only one more run before he looped up a return catch to D’Oliveira, who grabbed a diving forward catch and force the batter to walk off, with several Worcestershire players running across to shake his hand.
Derbyshire batted on with Anuj Dal becoming the fifth player to reach 50 and Zak Chappell adding quick runs before the hosts finally declared on 625-8, leaving Worcestershire 17 overs to negotiate before tea.
Despite facing a difficult proposition, the visitors made their way through an early examination with composure.
Lategan survived a chance on 10 in his second over but wicketkeeper Brooke Guest spilled it, as Worcestershire looked to cement a substantial early partnership to see them back into the match.
Libby was also dropped on 10 when Ben Aitchison’s first ball was edged to Caleb Jewell, who, despite getting both hands to the ball, could not hang on. On a pitch where there was no margin for error, the visitors continued to press on and generate momentum.
The Pears hard work was undone late in the afternoon however, as Jake Libby’s attempted defensive shot caught the edge of his bat and saw the opener dismissed for 24.
Worcestershire’s next wicket fell four overs later, when number three Kashif Ali was tempted into a drive but ball shaped to hit him in front and he was given out.
By now the light had deteriorated which made batting even tougher against the pace bowlers but Lategan and Adam Hose survived for another nine overs before the umpires took the players off the field at 17.40pm.
