Stuart Broad’s boldness with bat and ball proved fruitful despite Worcestershire’s stout resistance on day two of the LV= Insurance County Championship encounter at Trent Bridge.
Broad’s counter-attacking 45 from 27 deliveries elevated Nottinghamshire to a lead of 107, before the England bowler accounted for Azhar Ali and Jack Haynes in Worcestershire’s second innings.
From a perilous 32/4, however, the Pears rallied to 225/5 at stumps.
Broad lost his partner Tom Moores in the first over of the day, the wicketkeeper-batter chipping to Jake Libby for 19.
But while Luke Fletcher would take the majority of the strike in their partnership, the left-armer was emphatically the aggressor in their half-century stand.
Worcestershire’s persistence with the short ball paid no dividends, Broad swatting dismissively at Morris to clear the ropes on two occasions, while carving six fours in his hour-long stay in the middle.
A brace of languid drives from Fletcher (18) helped to haul the hosts past 250, before falling to a fine, tumbling take from Brett D’Oliveira off Adam Finch for 18.
The Finch-D’Oliveira combination accounted for Dane Paterson (2) soon after, Broad stranded five short of an eighth half-century for his county.
Worcestershire’s reply was almost immediately holed below the waterline, as four wickets inside the opening 12 overs saw the Pears’ top three and their captain trudging back up the Pavilion steps.
Fletcher, whose tireless toil in the first innings was only rewarded with the tenth wicket, removed Ed Pollock (0) with his side’s second delivery, flattening the southpaw’s middle stump.
A modicum of away-swing was sufficient to see off Libby (3) four overs later, Liam Patterson-White the grateful recipient in the gully.
And with Ali (5) fencing Broad into the twirler’s hands shortly after, the prospect of an innings defeat was, if not looming large, then certainly making its presence known on the horizon.
This was Broad in brutal form, his hostility recalling some of his aggressive early-career efforts and his herculean performances in the spring of 2021.
But it was Paterson who would claim the prize of D’Oliveira, the visiting captain (5) chipping tamely towards short mid-wicket to gift the South African a ninth scalp in the match – an athletic Haseeb Hameed completing the task.
That left redoubtable right-hander Jack Haynes with Ed Barnard for company, the duo compiling what was their side’s highest partnership of the match to date as the weather gods shone on the Worcestershire pair.
But a visibly crestfallen Haynes fell into Broad’s trap one short of his half-century, cramped by a short-pitched delivery that he could only top-edge to Duckett at deep backward square.
Barnard and Ben Cox consolidated the visitors' fightback as the shadows began to lengthen, any gremlins in the pitch conspicuous by their absence as Barnard chalked up a gutsy ton, Cox an unbeaten 50.
Their stand was worth 126 at the close as the Worcestershire lead reached 118.
View the full scorecard, and a selection of highlights, here...
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