Worcestershire Division One safety remains on hold
Last updated on .From the section Counties
| LV County Championship Division One, Chester-le-Street |
| Close, day two: Durham 264 & 51-0, Worcestershire 288 |
| Durham 5pts, Worcs 5pts |
| Match scorecard |
| Live commentary |
Worcestershire missed a great chance to officially secure their Division One status with a dramatic batting collapse on day two against Durham.
Vikram Solanki made 124 but the visitors, who would have secured their safety by reaching 300, slumped from 255-3 to 288 all out.
Durham closed on 51 without loss in their second innings with a lead of 27.
Worcestershire are still favourites to avoid the drop though, despite failing to secure a third batting bonus point.
Hampshire, who know they must beat title-chasing Warwickshire to stand any chance of staying up, are struggling after two days at The Rose Bowl.
CLOSE OF PLAY SUMMARY
BBC Hereford and Worcester's Trevor Owens:
"Worcestershire had the chance to finally banish all fears of relegation from Division One of the County Championship, but there is no getting away from the fact that they blew it.
"Events elsewhere meant they needed to score 300 in their first innings and they would have accrued enough bonus points to condemn Hampshire to the drop.
"Vikram Solanki and James Cameron batted very well, but the tail collapsed in spectacular fashion as the last seven wickets went down for the addition of only 33 runs and the last five for only five runs.
"Despite this setback, they are still favourites to beat relegation but they will need Warwickshire to take wickets against Hampshire to help them out."
