Foxes edged out in New Road thriller

Worcestershire versus Leicestershire, Specsavers County Championship, Day 4:

SCORECARD | Available through ESPN Cricinfo HERE

INTERVIEW | Mark Cosgrove and Andrew McDonald spoke to BBC Radio Leicester's Richard Rae at stumps 

HIGHLIGHTS | The highlights of the final day are available HERE

REPORT | A dramatic final day that produced 502 runs saw Worcestershire beat Leicestershire by a three-wicket margin at New Road, despite Charlie Shreck taking four of eight wickets to fall.

Leicestershire resumed 230 ahead with eight second innings wickets remaining and were determined to take the game to their opponents.

Great intent from Paul Horton (117 not out) and Mark Cosgrove (144) allowed County to set Worcestershire 366 to win from a minimum of 75 overs, a target that looked unlikely with the hosts at 73-4.

But Joe Clarke underlined his great promise with a third Specsavers County Championship century of the season and his stands with Ross Whiteley (71) and Joe Leach (64* off 51 balls) proved vital to the outcome.

A productive morning session saw Horton and Cosgrove add a further 133 runs in 19 overs to extend their alliance to 264 in 57.3 overs. It surpassed the previous best third wicket stand of 194 for Leicestershire against Worcestershire by Chris Balderstone and Brian Davison at Grace Road in 1975.

Horton played a number of his trademark cuts and square drives during his innings while the captain’s boundaries came through his ability to quickly judge the length, either by rocking back to pull away or getting into a good position to lean into drives either side of the wicket.

In rewriting the record books, the duo reached notable career landmarks. Horton passed 10,000 career runs in the first-class arena when posting his 80^th run while a Cosgrove four to reach 66 – one of 21 in an innings that also included three sixes  – moved the left-hander to the 12,000 mark.

The duo then progressed to their respective centuries, Horton first to the milestone from 198 balls (11x4) in the 70th over before Cosgrove followed suit in the next offering from 165 deliveries (16 x 4).

Both batsmen upped the tempo to allow Leicestershire to be in a position to bowl eight overs at Worcestershire before lunch.

A staggering 47 runs came in the space of three overs, Cosgrove clattering two fours and a maximum in consecutive overs before Horton struck a four and six for good measure.

Seven more runs were gathered before Cosgrove was lbw to Jack Shantry when four short of 150, the captain calling time on the innings upon the fall of his wicket.

Daryl Mitchell and Brett D'Oliveira progressed to lunch without alarm at 42-0 before lunch but the beauty of the declaration was that there were two bites with the new cherry.

That move paid dividends as the openers were dismissed quickly after the break as part of a real purple patch for Clint McKay and Shreck.

The initial breakthrough came in the second over after the interval, the skipper caught at the wicket by Ned Eckersley off McKay after a scoring 32 at a run a ball before the Victorian forced D'Oliveira (16) to fend to Neil Dexter at gully.

Tom Fell (10) then nicked Shreck to Eckersley before Tom Kohler-Cadmore (5) offered the same bowler a return catch.

County had taken four wickets for the addition of 23 runs with the Pears now at 73-4 but the team were frustrated by Clarke and Whiteley, who shared 97 before tea to steer Worcestershire to a far healthier 170-4.

The Foxes thought they had claimed the fifth wicket of the afternoon session with the total on 147 when Clarke was given out lbw by umpire Jeremy Lloyds on 31.

Clarke initially walked off but after Lloyds and fellow umpire Graham Lloyd conferred the England Lions player was recalled to the middle.

The target in the final session was 196 off a minimum of 38 overs while County required six wickets, so the game was right in the balance.

Both batsmen hit eight fours as they reached fifties off a similar number of deliveries faced, Whiteley first to the landmark from 80 balls and Clarke taking three balls fewer.

Progress continued for the Pears before Shreck struck for a third time as Whiteley (71), who had survived on three occasions, eventually fell when edging Angus Robson at slip.

Shreck made it four when disturbing the stumps of Ollie Cox (9) but a stand between Clarke and Leach then swung the pendulum.

The duo added 108 in just 16.5 overs with Leach’s 38-ball 50, including six fours and a maximum, injecting impetus at just the right time for the Pears. Clarke, meanwhile, completed his century from 145 balls in a knock that contained 15 fours at that stage.

When Clarke was run out for 123 by a sharp piece of work by Eckersley, Worcestershire still needed 21 off 28 balls and Raine conceded only a single off the remainder of the over to give the Foxes hope.

But Leach and Ed Barnard had started Worcestershire’s revival in the first innings and held their nerve to ensure the hosts won without further loss with ten deliveries to spare.

The result meant that Worcestershire took 21 points from the game while Leicestershire finished with five after losing one of the bonus points to a slow over rate.

Bowling figures for Leicestershire: McKay 21-1-81-2, Raine 9-0-60-0, Shreck 22-2-104-4, Jones 6-2-28-0, Dexter 9-2-36-0, Cosgrove 3.2-0-14-0, Taylor 3-0-18-0.