Inspired by Tom Taylor’s 5-56, Worcestershire eased to a second Rothesay County Championship victory in as many matches as the hosts swept aside Kent to secure a 23-point win on another one-sided day at New Road.
Adding six runs to their overnight lead, the Pears wasted no time in denting Kent’s reply to 251, with Taylor’s early three-wicket burst setting the tone of the day.
Beyers Swanepoel (2-73) and Matthew Waite played a fine support role as Worcestershire reduced the visitors to 140-7.
Lower-order resistance saw Kent prolong the inevitable, but once Taylor secured his fifer, the end was nigh as Ethan Brookes wrapped up a resounding win by an innings and two runs and ensured the Pears remain unbeaten at the start of 2026.
Matthew Waite and Oliver Hannon-Dalby resumed day three at a sun-soaked New Road, looking to add to the Pear’s overnight lead of 245, having enjoyed a near-perfect second day’s play.
The pair added six before Hannon-Dalby’s defences were breached on the final ball of the session’s opening over, bringing an end to Worcestershire’s first innings, having registered 447, with Waite unbeaten on 52.
10 minutes later, keen to press home their advantageous position in the match, Brett D’Oliveira led his side back onto the field where Tom Taylor and Oliver Hannon-Dalby opened the Pears’ pursuit of early Kent wickets.
England opener Zak Crawley started with positive intent, stating his intent with a flurry of booming drives down the ground as the right-hander looked to be enjoying the favourable conditions both overhead and on the surface.
The batter did offer an early chance, however, manufactured by Hannon-Dalby once again, but a misjudgement by Taylor at mid-on saw the chance go begging, leaving Worcestershire supporters wondering if it was going to be ‘one of those days’.
Last season’s leading wicket-taker responded in emphatic style, however, producing a blistering spell to tear through the Kent top order and wrestle the momentum back in the hosts’ favour.
Ben Dawkins became Taylor’s first victim when Ben Compton’s injury replacement was lured into a full delivery that angled away from off-stump and caught his edge, ending his 11-ball resistance.
With their tails up, the hosts smelt blood, and it was Taylor who delivered his next blow when he found the edge of Sam Northeast’s bat for 7, with Gareth Roderick taking an excellent low catch down to his right to reduce Kent to 30-2.
If spirits were high after claiming two Kent scalps in the opening hour, the Pears were suitably thrilled when Taylor claimed a third wicket of his brilliant opening spell as Tanda Muyeye (4) played around a ball that angled back and wrapped him on the front pad, as Kent teetered three wickets down, still 185 runs adrift.
After his encouraging first innings showing, it was Beyers Swanepoel who was reintroduced to the attack from the Diglis End to join the hunt for the prize wicket of Crawley, with England’s opener continuing his counter-offensive.
Matthew Waite went wicketless despite keeping his teammates interested as he beat the bat on ample occasions, but it was the former Kent employee, Swanepoel, who was jumping for joy shortly after midday when Crawley edged behind on 31 with a second Rothesay County Championship victory honing into view.
Navigating through to Lunch at 103-4, Kent’s struggles continued upon the resumption, with the home side showing a clinical cutting edge.
Having bowled with control and discipline throughout, Hannon-Dalby’s persistence was rewarded just two balls into the afternoon when the man in-form swung one back at Daniel Bell-Drummond, where a ball destined for the stumps crashed into his front pad and spelt the end for the Kent Captain, having made 30.
The buzz both in the field and around the ground was palpable, with D’Oliveira’s men making every ball an event, with their opponents staring down the barrel still 150 runs behind in the match.
Joey Evison (23) showed some defiance, but when Tom Taylor accounted for him by kissing the edge of his bat on the way through to Roderick, Kent were floundering at 111-6.
With Swanepoel and Waite now bowling in tandem, the Pears upped the ante, deploying two slips, a short extra cover and a short midwicket, with Alan Richardson’s men circling.
Seven overs passed before the inevitable seventh wicket fell, as a stunning diving catch by Ethan Brookes at second slip closed Matt Milnes’ turgid stay at the crease, with the sublime catch justifying the extravagant celebrations.
For the first time in the match, however, it was Worcestershire who endured a period on the back foot, as Chris Benjamin and Keith Dudgeon settled in for a stubborn eighth-wicket partnership.
At the crease for 15 overs, the pair threw the visitors a lifeline, fending off the questions posed by the Pears bowling contingent, adding 71 runs in the process.
With the lead reduced to just 40, the hosts turned to talisman Taylor in an attempt to break the partnership and avoid having to bat for a second time in the match.
Taylor duly obliged, producing a jaffa of a delivery that Dudgeon nicked to Roderick behind the stumps, with Worcestershire’s seamer securing a 10th career fifer in the process.
At 211-8, Swanepoel returned to take his third wicket of the innings from the Diglis End as he bowled Parkinson for seven, before victory was sealed courtesy of Ethan Brookes when he pinned Benjamin LBW for a well-made 77, ending Kent’s resistance for 249 and ensuring the Pears wrapped up victory by an innings and two runs and extended their impressive start to 2026.
