D’Oliveira rides to rescue for Worcestershire

Seeking to leapfrog Sussex and move into second place in the table, the visitors found themselves pinned between a rock and a hard place after being reduced to 182-7 by a Gloucestershire seam attack that acquitted themselves well to give hope to an expectant Festival crowd.

Zaman Akhter and Matt Taylor claimed 3-61 and 2-65 respectively and Worcestershire were in danger of under-achieving badly when their captain stopped the rot, scoring a dogged 53 not out from 103 balls and staging an obdurate unbroken partnership of 83 with Josh Baker, who was unbeaten of 40 when rain moved in to bring a premature close to proceedings with the loss of 34 overs.

Gareth Roderick and Matthew Waite may have contributed sparkling half centuries earlier in the day, but Worcestershire were ultimately grateful to their skipper for hauling them clear of trouble against a Gloucestershire side which, at one point, must have sensed an opportunity to register a first red-ball win of the season.

Put into bat on a pitch that served up uneven bounce and a degree of lateral movement during the first hour, Worcestershire’s innings was a hit or miss affair against the new ball.

Opening up from the Chapel End, Matt Taylor struck with his fourth ball, tempting the in-form Jake Libby to push at a delivery outside off stump and nick off to third slip, where Miles Hammond held on at the second attempt.

Taylor removed Azhar Ali in his next over, the right hander falling lbw to late movement despite taking a reasonably big stride. When Kashif Ali prodded tentatively at a length ball from Tom Price and Ollie Price took a fine catch low down at second slip, Worcestershire were 18-3 in the sixth over and three out of their top four had failed to score.

Yet Roderick and Adam Hose encountered no such problems, both appearing perfectly at home in a revitalising fourth wicket stand of 77 in 14 overs. Accustomed to making runs at the famous College Ground during a previous incarnation as a Gloucestershire player, Roderick put inside information to good use in an enterprising innings that saw him score fluently either side of the wicket.

Armed with a new two-year contract in his back pocket and determined to make a good account of himself against his former employers, Roderick scored at a run a ball before raising 50 from 62 deliveries, reaching that landmark courtesy of his ninth boundary, a square cut off Paul van Meekeren.

Much to his chagrin, he then promptly blotted his copybook, pushing at a straight one from van Meekeren, deflecting an inside edge onto leg stump and departing for 53 when a really substantial score appeared to be his for the asking.

Having adopted the role of chief support in an innings of 32 from 45 balls, Hose went in the next over, Akhter pinning him lbw as Worcestershire subsided from the relative security of 95-3 to 99-5 in the twinkling of an eye. Although D’Oliveira and Waite ushered the visitors to lunch without further mishap, it was Gloucestershire who had a spring in their step at the interval.

As such, it came as something of a surprise to a decent-sized Festival audience when the game entered an altogether different phase during the afternoon session. Waite re-emerged with all guns blazing, plundering six boundaries in eight balls as the first four overs of the session yielded 42 runs.

He drove and cut Matt Taylor for four and then found the leg-side boundary on four occasions during one van Meekeren over to force Gloucestershire onto the back foot. Continuing to play positively, the sixth wicket pair raised a 50 partnership from 58 balls and Waite, buoyed by 10 fours, rushed to a half century from just 40 deliveries.

Having negotiated the hard yards, Waite suffered an inexplicable rush of blood to the head, driving expansively at Akhter and edging to second slip. He had contributed 64 from 54 balls, struck 12 fours and helped add 83 in 15 overs for the sixth wicket with D’Oliveira. Akhter struck again in his next over as 182-6 became 182-7, Joe Leach playing across the line to a straight one without scoring.

Given that the visitors were now in danger of falling short, it was incumbent upon D’Oliveira to play a responsible innings, and he met the demands of the day in admirable fashion. The rate of scoring necessarily slowed, but Worcestershire’s captain ground out a valuable half century from 87 balls, his first since the opening game of the season against Derbyshire.

He found a willing ally in Josh Baker, who initially rode his luck in a testing examination at the hands of Akhter, before settling into the part of second fiddle to his captain. By the time heavy rain forced the players off, he was 10 runs short of a half century, having mustered defiance for 86 balls.