SAM Hain’s quality was highlighted again as Warwickshire took control on day three of their Championship match against Worcestershire.
A second impressive innings of the match left the Bears well-placed to press for victory at New Road.
On an unpredictable pitch, which has helped seamers throughout, Hain followed his first innings 86 with an unbeaten 87 (174 balls) as Warwickshire took their second innings to 280 to set the home side 327 to win.
Chris Woakes supported Hain with 42 (74), during which he passed 10,000 runs in all formats, while Jacob Duffy took five for 75.
Worcestershire closed the third day on 54 for two and faced a huge batting challenge on the final day when they must make the biggest score of the match to win it.
Warwickshire all-rounder Ed Barnard, told the county’s official website: “Sam Hain has really showed his quality in this match with 160 runs in two knocks on a pretty tough pitch to bat on.
“We know how good he is – he’s just so calm in those situations and knows his own game so well and he has put us into a really strong position in this game.
“Alongside Sam I think the best thing we did was chip in with 20s and 30s which were all really important in quite a low-scoring game. We know how hard it is to bat here so every run was crucial. For us to get a lead of over 300 we were really happy.
“I thought we bowled beautifully and could have had much more rewards than we ended up with, but a lot of wickets in this game have not been with the new ball. I think that period from 20 overs on, when the ball is swinging a lot more, is where the damage is done.”
Warwickshire resumed on the third morning on 53 for one, already 99 ahead, and soon lost Tom Latham, who edged an aggressive shot at Tom Taylor to wicketkeeper Gareth Roderick. Rob Yates re-dropped the anchor and eked out a valuable 29 from 112 balls before falling lbw, hit on the back pad, by Ben Allison.
Beau Webster paid the price for going on the back foot on a pitch, sometimes keeping low when Duffy flattened his leg stump.
That was 86 for four, and Worcestershire were clawing their way back into the match, but the excellent Hain unfurled his second crucial innings of the contest and received important support from the middle and lower orders. Ed Barnard (30, 28) added impetus before top-edging Matthew Waite to third man. Zen Malik helped Hain add 30, and after he sliced Duffy to point, Kai Smith pulled Allison to long leg, Woakes arrived – not a bad player to have coming in at nine.
Warwickshire resumed on the third morning on 53 for one, already 99 ahead, and soon lost Tom Latham, who edged an aggressive shot at Tom Taylor to wicketkeeper Gareth Roderick. Rob Yates re-dropped the anchor and eked out a valuable 29 from 112 balls before falling lbw, hit on the back pad, by Ben Allison. Beau Webster paid the price for going on the back foot on a pitch, sometimes keeping low when Duffy flattened his leg stump.
That was 86 for four, and Worcestershire were clawing their way back into the match, but the excellent Hain unfurled his second crucial innings of the contest and received important support from the middle and lower orders. Ed Barnard (30, 28) added impetus before top-edging Matthew Waite to third man. Zen Malik helped Hain add 30, and after he sliced Duffy to point, Kai Smith pulled Allison to long leg, Woakes arrived – not a bad player to have coming in at nine.
The eighth-wicket pair added 67 in 21 overs, lifting Worcestershire’s target over 300, before Woakes edged Taylor to slip. Duffy completed his five-for with wickets from successive balls when Ethan Bamber hit his wicket with the follow-through from a pull and Chris Rushworth edged to slip.
Rushworth wasted no time before inflicting damage with the ball when he knocked out Jake Libby’s off-stump with an outswinger. Six balls later, Henry Nicholls copped a tough lbw decision when he appeared to be struck outside the line of off-stump by Woakes.
That was 25 for two and, with 27 overs left in the day, Warwickshire fancied their chances of making match-clinching inroads before stumps. Batting remained a serious test of concentration and technique, but Roderick and Kashif Ali negotiated 12 overs before bad light lopped off 10 overs, with the players returning for an uneventful 5 to finish.
An intriguing final day beckons with an additional factor from some rain in the forecast. Warwickshire remain strong favourites to bank a win, which would owe most to Hain, whose high-class batting in this match was worthy of two centuries.
