A compelling final day of action at The Central Co-op County Ground saw Worcestershire salvage a draw by batting through all three sessions against Derbyshire, leaving Men’s Head Coach Alan Richardson delighted with the turnaround produced by his side.
Behind in the match after Derbyshire made an imposing 625-8 declared, the visitors were forced to follow-on, having been bowled out for 312 at the first time of asking.
With nine second innings wickets still in hand, the task for Brett D’Oliveira’s side remained a steep one, with 96 scheduled overs lying in wait.
Throughout a nervy day’s action, several key batting performances across the Worcestershire card kept the away side in the game, not least youngster Dan Lategan’s second eye-catching innings of the match, in which the teenage left-hander was unlucky to fall on 49, one run short of a well-deserved half-century.
Adam Hose, Ethan Brookes and Tom Taylor all played their part around Matthew Waite’s exceptional 66 not-out, which anchored the Pears’ resistance throughout the final two sessions, with the Head Coach likening the final day theatrics to last summer’s opening match of the season away at Taunton, in what was another thrilling final day show of defiance.
“It definitely had some Somerset vibes about it, didn’t it? It was an amazing effort again today, and the character the boys showed was excellent.
“We probably haven’t deserved a draw over the four days but the character and the spirit we’ve shown gave us the chance to get a draw.
“I think the wicket was a really good cricket wicket but a score of 600 really puts us on the back foot, so it was a real challenge for us. I thought Derbyshire played really well and built pressure on us and were able to attack us when they wanted to, but we stood up to that when we needed to.”
Having been forced to bat again, still 313 runs adrift of Derbyshire’s imposing first innings total, the Pears were subjected to three sessions of relentless probing by the hosts’ bowling attack on the final day.
In the field since midway through day two, however, the weary bowlers were frustrated by a staunch Worcestershire defence, which grew stronger as each over passed, with time now in the visitors’ favour.
Entering the last hour with three wickets still intact, Tom Taylor batted with defiance alongside the ever-resolute Waite, with the pair surviving the remaining 11 overs of the match to cue scenes of delight on the Worcestershire balcony when the two-teams shook hands shortly before 6:30pm.
Richardson, although aware that his side were up against it for large parts, highlighted the performances of Waite and Lategan with the bat, with both batters producing vital innings during Worcestershire’s fourth day dramatics to secure the draw.
“Matthew (Waite) really enjoys these! I think at times the harder the challenge the more he rises to it. He played really well, we don’t want to be in these positions very often but if Matthew Waite is at the crease along with others we know they are going to make a real effort and get stuck in.
“I am really pleased for Dan, hopefully this is the start of an exciting career for him. He came and played the last three games of last year for us and had a tough time but showed some really nice signs.
“He was very disappointed that he got so close to two major landmarks in the match, but he showed some really bright signs throughout and hopefully there are some more exciting times ahead for him.”
