WARWICKSHIRE seamer Chris Rushworth celebrated ‘a special couple of days’ by taking four wickets to put the Bears back in control against Worcestershire.
Rushworth and Chris Woakes claimed seven wickets between them on the second day of the Rothesay County Championship Division One derby at New Road.
Not only that, but Rushworth’s day was complete when his beloved Sunderland knocked in a stoppage time winner against Sheffield United in the Championship playoffs final at Wembley.
Rushworth (four for 37) and Woakes (three for 34) exploited perfect seam-bowling conditions to bowl the home side out for 181. That gave Warwickshire a first innings lead of 46 – small but potentially decisive in a low-scoring game.
The visitors closed the second day on 53 for one – 99 ahead overall. It was an encouraging day for Warwickshire and also for England as Woakes safely came through his first first-team bowl after an ankle injury. He looked fluent and in good rhythm as he unfurled spells of 5-2-9-0, 7-3-14-2 and 4-2-11-1 from the Diglis End.
Worcestershire resumed on the second morning on 53 without loss, strongly placed but in batting conditions which were even more tricky than on the first day. Cloud cover and dampness from overnight rain had been added to the mischievous pitch.
Rushworth and Woakes could not have asked for more helpful conditions for their first competitive bowl of the season, and both took full advantage as Worcestershire’s ten wickets fell for 117 runs.
Rushworth has been hit by injury over the past 12 months and told the county’s official website: “We’re pretty happy with the way the day has gone. We are sitting quite nicely in the game now.
“There’s always something in it for the bowlers when you put it in the right areas. Balls go past the edge pretty much every over so you have just got to stay patient.
“It’s been a long time since I have played so just to get a few wickets and be part of being out there again, it’s been a pretty special couple of days.
“It’s been tough with a lot of work in the gym with the physios. I’m not getting any younger, so everything becomes a little bit harder. So to be picking up some wickets again is a nice feeling.
“Today there was a little bit more swing than on the first day. The conditions for swing bowling were quite nice and Woakesy is one of the best swing bowlers in the country so we got in a good rhythm, conditions were in our favour and we just tried to make the most of it.”
Woakes began the collapse by pinning Jake Libby (45, 66 balls) lbw. He then extended Henry Nicholls’ thin spell of form via a catch at third slip.
Nicholls’ departure was the first of four wickets to fall for eight runs in seven overs as Rushworth found his rhythm from the New Road End. Perfectly pitched outswingers induced three fatal edges in eight balls from Gareth Roderick (24 in two hours), Rob Jones and Brett D’Oliveira.
Under glowering skies, the outside edges continued to come. Wicketkeeper Alex Davies took the catches as Woakes snared Ethan Brookes and Matthew Waite became Rushworth’s 673rd First-Class victim. Kashif Ali’s 159 minutes of impressive defiance for 31 ended when he edged Ed Barnard high to second slip.
Tom Taylor clubbed Webster to mid on, and when the Aussie all-rounder, on his last appearance for Warwickshire before joining up with the Australia squad, bowled Ben Allison through a slog, Warwickshire’s first innings lead was a solid 46.
With the last session to bat, Warwickshire soon lost Alex Davies, beaten for pace and bowled by Jacon Duffy. In murky light, Rob Yates (17 not out, 71 balls) and Tom Latham (15 not out, 54) ground out an unbroken partnership of 38 in 115 balls to cement their side’s advantage.
