Worcestershire Vs. Lancashire LVCC day three.

Lancashire close in on victory over Worcestershire.

A fascinating third days cricket at New Road saw the division two leaders close in the ascendancy, with Worcestershire narrowly leading by 12 runs, losing five second innings wickets in the process of over-turning a 147-run deficit.

Moeen Ali was, once again, the star of the show, bringing up his second century in the match from 134 balls and without this effort Worcestershire could easily have faced an innings defeat.

Lancashire's extensive batting line-up flourished in the first session, as Luke Procter and Tom Smith mounted a 136-run stand for the seventh wicket, after Simon Katich fell in the second over of the day for 105.

Both batsmen cruised their way to half-centuries, with Smith narrowly the fastest of the two, doing so from 75 deliveries, but Procter was soon level after 82 balls.

The visitors achieved full batting bonus points with ease and sought to extend an already daunting lead over Worcestershire, who are now struggling to catch up with Northamptonshire and Lancashire at the top of the table.

After the first interval Lancashire's plans suffered several setbacks, with Procter adding just six more to his lunchtime score of 70 and Gareth Cross was dismissed for no score, with both batsmen falling to the ever-dangerous Alan Richardson (4-102).

Worcestershire made further inroads soon after, forcing Kyle Hogg (6) to edge behind off Graeme Cessford, who collected career-best figures of 4-73 when he denied Smith (84) of his century, as Lancashire were bowled out for 441. 

Keen to get amongst the Worcestershire batsmen, the visitors struck an early blow, forcing Matthew Pardoe to edge behind off Kyle Hogg for naught. This did however bring Ali to the crease, who dominated proceedings in spite of the rest of Worcestershire's batsmen failing to settle.

Captain Daryl Mitchell was next to go for eight, offering no shot to Glen Chapple, putting the hosts in an uncomfortable position at 15-2. Thilan Samaraweera helped Ali guide Worcester to tea and was able to observe a plethora of world-class batting from Ali, who raced to fifty from just 63 balls, smashing 3 sixes in quick succession.

The Sri Lankan's services were ended abruptly by Smith, who trapped Samaraweera leg before on 17, the next highest score of the innings, with Worcestershire still trailing by 68 runs. 

Tom Fell (11) and Ross Whitely (13) both offered support to Ali, with the latter avoiding the embarrassment of a king pair, but neither was able to accelerate alongside the centurion as both men departed before close of play.