Worcestershire v Glamorgan: Saeed Ajmal stars in home win

Saeed Ajmal recorded his fifth five-wicket haul as he took his season's tally to 56 Championship scalps

Pakistan test star Saeed Ajmal claimed his second 10-wicket match haul of the season to bowl Worcestershire to victory against Glamorgan at New Road.

Worcestershire's fifth win in 10 County Championship matches took them back to the top of Division Two, 12 points clear of title rivals Hampshire.

Spinner Ajmal took 7-34 as Glamorgan, 0-0 overnight, were bowled out for 105 inside just over three hours.

Fast bowler Charlie Morris weighed in with 3-14 as the hosts won by 249 runs.

Morris took the first three wickets of the day to start the rot before Ajmal then ran through the next seven, helped by a stunning overhead catch at deep square leg to get rid of Jim Allenby.

Ajmal picked up his final four scalps in the space of seven balls for no runs, to finish with match figures of 12-140 - bettered only by his 13-94 against Essex in May.

Glamorgan hung on stoutly for a draw when they faced Ajmal for the first time at Cardiff in the game that preceded that, thanks to a rearguard effort from Will Bragg and skipper Mark Wallace. But there was to be no repeat as they suffered only their second Championship defeat of 2014, leaving them 48 points adrift of leaders Worcestershire.

With six games to go, Worcestershire are 28 points ahead of third-placed Surrey, but they may only have use of Ajmal for one more of those matches.

He can play in their next three T20 games, starting with Friday evening's home date with Yorkshire, and the next Championship match against Leicestershire, starting on 13 July.

But he is then due to report on Pakistan duty for the recently-arranged series of two Tests and three one-day internationals in Sri Lanka, which is scheduled to end on 30 August - and Worcestershire have not yet confirmed whether he will be allowed to return to New Road for their final two Championship games.

Worcestershire's players dedicated their victory to the memory of academy director Damian D'Oliveira, whose death on Sunday morning at the age of 53, was announced just before the game started.

Worcestershire director of cricket Steve Rhodes:

"At the start of the game we addressed the players and told them about Damian.

"There were a lot of sad faces and it almost became a mission to win this game for him.

"It was a great effort all round. Even though Saeed Ajmal got plenty of wickets, he couldn't do it on his own."

Glamorgan head coach Toby Radford told BBC Wales:

"It's disappointing, but it was never going to be easy facing Saeed Ajmal on a turning pitch at Worcester.

"He does that at international level too, knocking over Test sides.

"But we simply have to learn from playing someone like him."

BBC Hereford & Worcester's Dave Bradley:

"An excellent win, in view of the way the week started with the announcement of the death of Damian D'Oliveira just before play started on the first day. And how good it was to see his son Brett back among the players for the last two days.

"Saeed Ajmal will again get the plaudits, weaving his magic spell on a pitch that didn't turn that much after Charlie Morris had again made the early inroads.

"There will be some who say Worcestershire are a "one man team", but it was young batsmen Tom Fell and Tom Kohler-Cadmore who rescued their side after the first three had gone in the first innings. And Worcestershire's catching was again top class highlighted by Fell's effort to get rid of Jim Allenby."