Bowlers keep Worcestershire's promotion hopes alive
Worcestershire nibbled into Glamorgan's nine-point advantage in the battle of the last promotion spot in the County Championship by restricting Sussex to 191 for 7 at New Road
13-Sep-2010
Sussex 191 for 7 v Worcestershire
Scorecard
Scorecard
Worcestershire nibbled into Glamorgan's nine-point advantage in the battle of
the last promotion spot in the County Championship by restricting Sussex to
191 for 7 at New Road.
While their Welsh rivals struggled, batting first against Derbyshire at
Cardiff, Worcestershire reduced the gap with two bowling points after being held
up by a Sussex teenager following his father into the county team.
Luke Wells, son of former captain Alan, made a capable 62 in a little more than
three hours on his first-class debut before Sussex, already promoted as Division
Two champions, lurched into trouble on a murky afternoon.
Having looked comfortable at 131 for 2 until Murray Goodwin fell for 34 in a
damaging second spell by Alan Richardson, they lost five wickets - including
Wells - while adding 17 runs in 12.2 overs. The 35-year-old Richardson, now with his fourth county, came into the match with 50 Championship wickets this season and added to his tally with 3 for 34 from 22 testing overs.
Worcestershire's momentum eventually ran down as Andrew Hodd made an unbeaten
31, putting on an undefeated 43 with young spin bowler Will Beer, who reached 22
not out in his second Championship appearance. Bad light then ended play at
5pm.
Wells, a 6ft 4in left hander who has played for England at Under-19 level, was
positive at the start of his innings. A clip for three off Matt Mason's first
ball would have eased any nerves but it was not good for his partner when Chris
Nash was lbw to the next delivery.
Wells gathered confidence with three consecutive boundaries off Mason, but
Gareth Andrew checked Sussex's early gallop in a fine spell which deserved more
than the leg before wicket dismissal of Ben Brown for 32. The second wicket produced 74 and this was followed by a stand of 54 before Goodwin attempted to cut the third ball of Richardson's after-lunch spell and gave a catch to Vikram Solanki at first slip.
Mason was unusually expensive in the morning but repaired his figures in a much
stronger second spell in which Luke Wright edged to second slip. With the England one-day all-rounder out for a fourth-ball duck, Sussex suffered a another blow when Wells, having slowed noticeably after reaching 50 with nine fours, drove hard at Richardson and sliced a catch to gully.
Sussex are without four of their leading players and their middle order
struggled against seam movement. Yasir Arafat was quickly lbw to medium pacer
James Cameron and James Anyon became another victim for Richardson with a nick
to second slip.