County Championship: Yorkshire declare behind to force result against Worcestershire

Ben Gibbon (second left) was one of three Worcestershire players to take two wickets at Headingley

Yorkshire declared behind against promoted Worcestershire in a bid to force a season-ending County Championship victory.

Yorkshire, bottom of Division Two and with the chance to leapfrog Gloucestershire directly above them, advanced from an overnight 24 without loss to declare on 262-6 - 127 behind.

Ben Coad then had Gareth Roderick caught at mid-off with the first ball of the innings before Azhar Ali edged Matt Milnes to Adam Lyth at second slip in the next over, leaving the Pears 9-2 and only 136 in front.

But only five more overs were possible due to the light, as the visitors closed on 18-2 with a 145-run lead and the chance of a contrived finish.

A draw may actually be enough for Yorkshire to avoid finishing bottom should Gloucestershire, on the back foot against Sussex, lose at Hove.

There was a point when, at 177-6 during the afternoon session, being forced to follow-on was a definite concern for Yorkshire, after former Pears skipper Joe Leach struck twice, including his 450th first-class wicket.

He was one of three Pears pacemen to take two wickets each at Headingley, along with Ben Gibbon and the departing Nottinghamshire-bound Dillon Pennington.

But, following 52 from George Hill, Matthew Revis and Dom Bess calmed such fears with a counter-attacking unbroken 85 for the seventh wicket.

In sailing beyond 240, Revis posted an unbeaten 51 and Bess 48 not out.

That allowed skipper Shan Masood to attack Worcestershire and go in search of a third win of 2023.

But there was no play beyond 16:25 BST, with a total of 44 overs lost in all, having endured a 45-minute late start.

The Pears were promoted back to Division One after a five-year absence for a record seventh time on the second day of this game, when they collected their second batting bonus point.