Ben Cox frustrates Derbyshire as Pears rescue final day draw

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An heroic seventh-wicket partnership between Ben Cox and Ed Barnard guided Worcestershire to a draw against Derbyshire on tense final day.

Cox (60*) and Barnard (35) occupied the crease for more than two hours as the visitors recovered from 83-6 to survive 84 overs and earn a share of the spoils on day four at the Incora County Ground.

Perhaps surprisingly, the hosts batted for a further ten overs in the morning session, adding 44 runs before declaring on 312-5 to set their opponents an unlikely 398 to win. Harvey Hosein (55*) registered his third consecutive unbeaten half-century, alongside Fynn Hudson-Prentice (31*) in a partnership worth 63 runs.

With 84 overs to take ten wickets, Derbyshire made the perfect start by reducing Worcestershire to 83-6 in the 37th over. Matt Critchley dismissed Daryl Mitchell (8) before Hudson-Prentice struck either side of the lunch interval to remove Jake Libby (21) and Tom Fell (13).

Ben Aitchison then ran through the middle order to claim figures of 3-18 as Brett D’Oliveira (3), Riki Wessels (2) and Gareth Roderick (22) all succumbed to the pressure of an impressive spell by the 21-year old. Cox and Barnard survived to the tea break with the visitors 118-6 and facing an uphill battle to save the match in the evening session.

But to the frustration of the Derbyshire bowlers, Cox and Barnard added 85 and more importantly batted for just over 30 overs. Cox’s half-century knock came off 148 balls, whilst Barnard’s 110-ball stay in the middle had edged Worcestershire to within sight of safety.

Critchley eventually made the crucial breakthrough, trapping Barnard LBW before swiftly dismissing Alzarri Joseph (4) in similar fashion to end with figures of 3-76. However, Pears captain Joe Leach (9) dug in for 39 balls to support the unmoved Cox as the pair saw out the remaining overs to finish on 193-8.

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The hosts failed to capitalise on their bright start with the ball, only managing to claim two wickets in the final session and may look back on the timing of their declaration with some regret as the visitors remained over 200 runs short of the victory target when the draw was called.

Derbyshire secured 15 points for the draw in what they will feel was a huge opportunity missed to claim a first win of the season ahead of a trip to the Riverside to face Durham next week, though can be encouraged by the performances of Leus du Plooy, Harvey Hosein and Ben Aitchison but most notably all-rounder Matt Critchley who hit 193 runs and claimed eight wickets across the two innings.

For the second game running, Worcestershire battled bravely from a slow start to also earn their second draw in as many games, collecting 14 points going into their first home match at New Road against Nottinghamshire in a few days time.

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