Pears fight back after Essex blitz their top order

Essex had Worcestershire 10-4 inside five overs – Porter and Sam Cook sharing the four wickets in a 13-ball spree – then 46-5 in 12 overs, before the tail wagged and the visitors reached a more respectable 266 all out shortly after a late tea.

Porter, the joint leading wicket-taker in division one, finished with 5-52 from 17 overs of controlled aggression on a flat Chelmsford pitch that later played to the strengths of Simon Harmer. The South Africa off-spinner marked his 100th red-ball appearance for Essex with a trio of lower-order victims for figures of 3-103.

Captain Brett D’Oliveira sparked the Worcestershire recovery after electing to bat with a patient 136-ball 68, supported in important stands by Ethan Brooks (46) and Tom Taylor (62 not out), the later aided by Amra Virdi in keeping Essex in the field with a last-wicket stand of 64. Essex had knocked off 50 of the deficit for the loss of Dean Elgar in 19 evening overs.