Lancashire’s Paul Coughlin made the quickest fifty within the 49-match historical past of first-class cricket at Southport however his county’s recreation towards Worcestershire appears more likely to finish in a draw.
Coughlin hit 4 sixes and 4 fours to succeed in his half-century in 36 balls and his 61, which included one other most, helped the house aspect attain 281-8 in reply to their opponents’ 270 on the finish of a day which concluded with a four-over session beginning at 18:25 BST.
That transient interval of play led to dramatic trend when Coughlin was lbw to Tom Taylor’s final ball of the day however by then his 62-run stand with Tom Hartley had earned Lancashire an 11-run lead.
However Saturday’s washout and Sunday night’s showers have resulted within the lack of 116 overs on this match and except one aspect collapses on the ultimate day, a draw is the possible final result.
And Worcestershire supporters must be cheered by the bowling of Beyers Swanepoel, who completed with 3-75 and their Durham loanee, George Drissell, who completed with 2-32 from 16 overs.
The primary wicket of the morning fell within the fifth over, when George Balderson, having added solely two runs to his in a single day 17, fenced at a ball from Swanepoel and edged a catch to wicket-keeper Gareth Roderick.
Josh Bohannon then had to deal with the hardest batting situations of the day and had made 12 in 50 minutes when he nicked a fantastic supply from Matthew Waite to Adam Hose at first slip.
Singh capitalised on Bohannon’s vigilance. Whereas solely 26 runs had been scored off 15 overs within the first hour of the day, 71 got here off 17 within the following 70 minutes till lunch, by which period Lancashire had been 125-2. Singh was unbeaten on 32, having hit 5 fours, and Jennings was 48 not out.
On the resumption, Singh was bowled by Swanepoel for a career-best first-class rating of 36 when he inside-edged the ball into his stumps and Michael Jones was dismissed for 4 in comparable trend by Waite, though the Lancastrian was belatedly making an attempt to take the bat away.
Seven overs later, issues bought significantly worse for the house aspect after they misplaced the important wicket of Jennings for 69.
Having reached his fifty off 127 balls trying in little bother throughout his 235-minute innings, the opener miscued a lower off Drissell straight to Tom Taylor at backward level. That gave the Durham loanee his first wicket of the Championship season and it left Lancashire precariously positioned on 164-5, nonetheless 106 runs in arrears.
Worcestershire made two extra breakthroughs earlier than tea with out ever instigating a collapse. Chris Inexperienced was caught behind for 15 when flashing at Swanepoel and having made 24 in 88 minutes, Hurst was additionally taken by Roderick off Drissell.
By then, although, Coughlin was already hitting the ball cleanly and having smacked two sixes earlier than tea, he hit two extra when play resumed briefly, one of many maximums having to be retrieved from a Harrod Drive backyard by Swanepoel.
Two rain showers additional interrupted the night session and it was one thing of a shock when the umpires decreed {that a} four-over session was potential.
