Matthew Waite staged another memorable rescue act to save Worcestershire in an absorbing end to the County Championship Division Two match at Derbyshire.
Waite faced 141 balls for his unbeaten 66 and with Ethan Brookes, 34 from 123, dug in for 36 overs to steer the visitors to a fighting draw against an attack which included Pakistani ace Mohammad Abbas and England off-spinner Shoaib Bashir.
Derbyshire looked to be on course for victory when they reduced Worcestershire to 185-6, but Waite, who batted through the final day at Taunton a year ago, stood firm as his side closed on 314-7.
Adam Hose scored 52 while Ben Aitchison, Martin Andersson and Abbas took two wickets apiece but no one could remove Waite in a gripping finale.
The day had not started well for Worcestershire with a wicket falling to the first ball of the morning.
Kashif Ali played a loose shot at Abbas and was caught at point by Anuj Dal to give Derbyshire the perfect start.
Dan Lategan had played with composure and maturity in both innings but his first error of judgement proved costly.
The 19-year-old was one short of a second 50 in the match when he edged behind a ball from Aitchison that he could have left. He was understandably annoyed with himself but the way he batted against a good attack should give him confidence going forward.
Worcestershire desperately needed a substantial stand and they would have been relieved to see Abbas take his sweater after bowling five overs from the City End at a cost of only eight runs.
Brett D’Oliveira had spoken the previous evening about the importance of building big partnerships and with Hose, he steered his side through the rest of the session.
But Derbyshire had the chance to separate them three overs before the interval when Hose went for a big drive at Andersson and edged to first slip where Aitchison dived but could not hold on.
Hose was on 37 and at lunch, he and D’Oliveira had added 80 from 146 balls but Derbyshire broke through in the second over of the afternoon.
D’Oliveira was beaten by one from Aitchsion that came back and trapped him on the crease to put another dent in Worcestershire’s hopes of batting through two sessions.
Seven overs later, Bashir celebrated when he lured Gareth Roderick into a sweep and found enough turn to hit the stumps.
Hose went to 50 with his seventh four but then aimed a cut at a wide ball from Andersson and was caught behind.
It was a poor shot in the circumstances and now it was down to Brookes and Waite to try and deny the hosts.
Aitchison almost removed Waite in the third over with the new ball when an edge flew low to fourth slip where Luis Reece was unable to take what would have been an outstanding catch.
It meant Worcestershire went in at tea still fighting on 214-6 and the resistance continued well into the final session.
Brookes was finally bowled by Andersson but Tom Taylor joined Waite to close the door on Derbyshire’s hopes.
Report by ECB Reporters’ Network, supported by Rothesay.
