Worcs bowled out cheaply as Notts take charge
Josh Tongue took three wickets on his return to the Nottinghamshire side following his England Test match duties
- Published
Rothesay County Championship Division One, Visit Worcestershire New Road, Worcester (day one)
Worcestershire 182: Roderick 61, Taylor 40; Pennington 4-50, Tongue 3-59
Nottinghamshire 46-1: Slater 23*, McCann 19*; Taylor 1-26
Notts (3 pts) trail Worcs (0 pts) by 136 runs
Nottinghamshire kept their County Championship title challenge on track as they bowled out Worcestershire for 182 on day one of their Division One clash.
Former Pears seamers Dillon Pennington (4-50) and Josh Tongue (3-59) reduced their old team-mates to 53-6 before Gareth Roderick (61) and Tom Taylor (40) offered some resistance.
Notts closed day one on 46-1 to lay a strong platform for a victory which would keep their surprise title-bid right on track – and all but relegate the hosts to Division Two.
The visitors won the toss and chose to bowl in anticipation of early life in the pitch and found plenty to reduce the home side to 37-5 in the 15th over.
Pennington struck the first two blows, unfurling a lifter to take Rehaan Edavalath's edge through to wicketkeeper Kyle Verreynne and then jagging one back in to trap Kashif Ali lbw.
Three wickets then fell on 37 as Tongue removed Jake Libby, caught behind, and then flattened Brett D'Oliviera's off-stump with the last two balls of his over.
When Pennington pinned debutant Daniel Lategan in front, three wickets had fallen in five balls.
Tongue was mightily close to a hat-trick at the start of the next over when Roderick survived a huge lbw shout, but the next wicket wasn't long in coming as the Pears stirred some self-destruction into their difficult morning.
Ethan Brookes played Pennington to mid-off, saw a single that wasn't there and was well-beaten by Haseeb Hameed's direct hit.
When Matthew Waite clipped Lyndon James to mid-wicket just after lunch, it was 86-7, but Roderick and Taylor rebuilt sensibly against strangely defensive fields.
They added 71 in 17 overs and Taylor was deeply frustrated to sky a pull at Tongue and perish minutes before rain arrived to trigger an early tea.
After forked lightning amid dark grey skies, Nottinghamshire then polished off the innings upon resumption.
Pennington pinned Ben Allison lbw and then Roderick, having dug out a fighting 102-ball half-century, was lbw, sweeping to Liam Patterson-White.
Nottinghamshire lost skipper Hameed, bowled by Taylor, to the second ball of their innings as the pitch continued to offer some movement and good carry.
But Ben Slater and Freddie McCann added an unbroken 46 in 16 overs to the close, not without some playing and missing, to leave the East Midlands side scenting a big first innings lead as they hunt a seventh County Championship title.
Report supplied by ECB Reporters' Network, supported by Rothesay
