Nottinghamshire Seize Early Control at New Road
Nottinghamshire strengthened their Rothesay County Championship title hopes by dismissing Worcestershire for just 182 on the opening day at Visit Worcestershire New Road. The visitors then closed on 46 for 1, trailing by 136, and in pole position for another vital win that could cement their title charge while pushing Worcestershire closer to relegation.
Former Worcestershire quicks Dillon Pennington (4 for 50) and Josh Tongue (3 for 59) haunted their old teammates, leaving the hosts reeling at 53 for 6 before Gareth Roderick and Tom Taylor offered some resistance.
“𝑰𝒕 𝒇𝒆𝒍𝒕 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒂 𝒉𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑷𝒆𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒕𝒐𝒏 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑻𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒖𝒆, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝑾𝒐𝒓𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒆𝒕.”
Early Wreckage and Brief Recovery
Notts’ decision to bowl first paid off immediately as Pennington removed Rehaan Edavalath and Kashif Ali in quick succession. Tongue then struck twice in consecutive deliveries, dismissing Jake Libby and Brett D’Oliveira, before Pennington trapped debutant Daniel Lategan lbw — three wickets falling in just five balls.
Worcestershire’s misery deepened when Ethan Brookes was run out by a sharp Haseeb Hameed throw, reducing them to 37 for 5. Roderick, however, stood firm, surviving an lbw scare against Tongue and later combining with Taylor for a 71-run stand that temporarily steadied the innings.
Taylor’s dismissal to a mistimed pull against Tongue, minutes before rain brought an early tea, left Worcestershire exposed again. After the break, Pennington pinned Ben Allison and Patterson-White trapped Roderick lbw after a valiant 61 from 102 balls.
“𝑹𝒐𝒅𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒌’𝒔 𝒇𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒊𝒇𝒕𝒚 𝒈𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝑾𝒐𝒓𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒓𝒆 𝒉𝒐𝒑𝒆, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒐𝒐 𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒍𝒆 𝒂𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒕 𝒂 𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝑵𝒐𝒕𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒉𝒂𝒎𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒂𝒄𝒌.”
Notts Build Platform for Big Lead
In reply, Nottinghamshire lost captain Haseeb Hameed to Tom Taylor’s second ball, but Ben Slater and Freddie McCann saw out the remaining overs. They added 46 unbeaten runs, riding out some movement and carry from the surface, to put their side firmly in charge.
With the pitch still offering assistance and a strong batting platform in place, Nottinghamshire now have their eyes on a commanding lead and a potential seventh County Championship title later this month.
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