JAKE Libby carried his bat to work to the second longest innings of the LV Insurance County Championship in minutes when Worcestershire drew with Masters Essex. writes ALEX SMITH.
Libby became the first Worcestershire player to hit by an inning since Daryl Mitchell in 2015, after staying on the crease for 11 hours and 21 minutes.
Only Jason Gallian’s vigil for Lancashire in 1996 was longer.
The first batsman ended up unbeaten at 180, with Ed Barnard and Dillon Pennington posting personal bests of 128 and 56, respectively, while visitors stacked up to 475 for a positive result.
Essex, who finished an 11-game run at the Cloudfm County Ground in Chelmsford, took 13 points on Worcestershire’s 12 from the draw when hands were shaken between the two captains at 4:23 p.m.
Essex captain Tom Westley said: “It’s disappointing to lose the winning streak, but we’re a very hard team at home and that’s basically what we’re trying to achieve. Hopefully this gives us the opportunity to start another winning streak!
“They are nice races. I had a lean period last year which was frustrating after taking over the captaincy but from a personal point of view it was nice to start the season well and get some runs.
“It means a lot more when it contributes to a win. Hopefully I can continue this form and we can win a few games.
“We have had great success at Chelmsford over the past five years so we don’t come across too many of these doors.
“We’ve got ourselves in positions to push for a result like three on day two, four for 70 or six for 140, that’s the blueprint for what we’ve been doing for a few years.”
Libby continued his epic innings on 141, but when he had a double century in mind his approach didn’t show it.
In the morning he only achieved 24 runs as a running standstill to almost a standstill – with a particularly lengthy spell in which 37 bullets were sent down one after the other.
Despite being among the blockers, he pulled Simon Harmer in the middle for six minutes to get him to 149. His 150 were hit on the leg side shortly afterwards with a single – the milestone hit 392 balls.
Barnard, who messed up his first prime century on day three, ticked cautiously to 125 before being overwhelmed by a sharp drop from Dan Lawrence.
That ended a 244-run stand for the seventh wicket, just 12 runs behind Worcestershire’s all-time fastest time.
Joe Leach was strangled in the leg to give academic Ben Allisson his first premium wicket for Essex.
Dillon Pennington then joined Libby as the pair added another 75 runs, with the tailender taking 56 of them – beating his previous best of 37.
He was stunned in front of Harmer before Charlie Morris came to Harmer to end the innings – Libby had scored 39 runs in the 127 balls he faced on the final day.
Essex’s bowlers were forced to work long shifts, no more than Harmer, who posted 61.3 overs, the second most bowled in a single inning in his career as the Red Ball – he returned three for 126, with Sam Cook triumphing four for 100.
Worcestershire’s 475 meant a first inning deficit of 15 and Essex increased their lead by another 28 for losing bowling to Alastair Cook before bad light ended the match.
It meant a happier trip to Chelmsford for Worcestershire than their two previous endeavors, losing by innings each time.