Essex frustrated by resolute Pears

Worcestershire v Essex – LV Insurance County Championship – New Road – Day Three – Summary

Essex: 561/8d (174.0 overs)

Worcestershire: 302/5 (112.0 overs)

Essex won the toss and elected to bat

Worcestershire trail Essex by 259 runs with five first-innings wickets standing

Worcestershire put up resolute resistance with the bat to hold up an Essex charge on day three at New Road.

Resuming on 37 without loss, in response to the champions’ 561/8d, Daryl Mitchell, Brett D’Oliveira and Tom Fell all scored half-centuries, helping the hosts to 302/5 at the close.

Mitchell and skipper, Jake Libby put together an opening stand of 111, while Fell and D’Oliveira offered similar resistance for the fourth wicket as Worcestershire made steady progress.

Simon Harmer took 3/75, while Shane Snater and Sam Cook were also amongst the wickets. However, another stand of 43 between Rikki Wessels and Ben Cox carried Worcestershire to calmer seas heading into the final day.

Earlier, Alastair Cook and Tom Westley had hit centuries, while Dan Lawrence chipped in with 90, and Harmer 57 as Essex had seized control. Play resumes on Sunday at 11am.

Worcestershire: Daryl Mitchell, Jake Libby (Capt), Tom Fell, Gareth Roderick, Brett D’Oliveira, Riki Wessels, Ben Cox (WK), Ed Barnard, Alzarri Joseph, Dillon Pennington, Charlie Morris

Essex: Alastair Cook, Nick Browne, Tom Westley (Capt), Dan Lawrence, Paul Walter, Ryan ten Doeschate, Adam Wheater (WK), Simon Harmer, Shane Snater, Sam Cook, Peter Siddle

Umpires: GD Lloyd and RA White

Scorers: SM Drinkwater and MW Turner

Match Referee: S Cummings