da supremo： Worcestershire nibbled into Glamorgan’s nine-point advantage in the battle ofthe last promotion spot in the County Championship by restricting Sussex to191 for 7 at New Road
13-Sep-2010
ScorecardWorcestershire nibbled into Glamorgan’s nine-point advantage in the battle ofthe last promotion spot in the County Championship by restricting Sussex to191 for 7 at New Road.While their Welsh rivals struggled, batting first against Derbyshire atCardiff, Worcestershire reduced the gap with two bowling points after being heldup by a Sussex teenager following his father into the county team.Luke Wells, son of former captain Alan, made a capable 62 in a little more thanthree hours on his first-class debut before Sussex, already promoted as DivisionTwo champions, lurched into trouble on a murky afternoon.Having looked comfortable at 131 for 2 until Murray Goodwin fell for 34 in adamaging second spell by Alan Richardson, they lost five wickets – includingWells – while adding 17 runs in 12.2 overs. The 35-year-old Richardson, now with his fourth county, came into the match with 50 Championship wickets this season and added to his tally with 3 for 34 from 22 testing overs.Worcestershire’s momentum eventually ran down as Andrew Hodd made an unbeaten31, putting on an undefeated 43 with young spin bowler Will Beer, who reached 22not out in his second Championship appearance. Bad light then ended play at5pm.Wells, a 6ft 4in left hander who has played for England at Under-19 level, waspositive at the start of his innings. A clip for three off Matt Mason’s firstball would have eased any nerves but it was not good for his partner when ChrisNash was lbw to the next delivery.Wells gathered confidence with three consecutive boundaries off Mason, butGareth Andrew checked Sussex’s early gallop in a fine spell which deserved morethan the leg before wicket dismissal of Ben Brown for 32. The second wicket produced 74 and this was followed by a stand of 54 before Goodwin attempted to cut the third ball of Richardson’s after-lunch spell and gave a catch to Vikram Solanki at first slip.Mason was unusually expensive in the morning but repaired his figures in a muchstronger second spell in which Luke Wright edged to second slip. With the England one-day all-rounder out for a fourth-ball duck, Sussex suffered a another blow when Wells, having slowed noticeably after reaching 50 with nine fours, drove hard at Richardson and sliced a catch to gully.Sussex are without four of their leading players and their middle orderstruggled against seam movement. Yasir Arafat was quickly lbw to medium pacerJames Cameron and James Anyon became another victim for Richardson with a nickto second slip.