Nottinghamshire were made to toil on the third day of their LV= County Championship match against Worcestershire at New Road but had moved to the brink of victory by stumps.
Set to score 232, to win their fourth match of the season, the visitors closed on 157-3, requiring only a further 75 runs to pick up their first championship success on the ground since 2001.
Riki Wessels, who had arrived in the middle on a pair, reached stumps on 70 not out, with James Taylor alongside him with an unbeaten 49.
The home side had been dismissed in the middle of the day for 292, with Jake Ball returning the visitors’ best bowling figures of 4-67.
Despite being made to wait for their success Head Coach Wayne Noon was pleased with the overall situation at the end of a competitive day.
“We’re very happy,” he said. “A 120-run partnership, with hopefully more to come in the morning from James and Riki, it was excellent.
“You always get a little bit nervy on a run chase, no matter how many runs it is but we bowled on it all morning and know what a good wicket it is.
“It started to turn a little bit but it’s still a good batting wicket.
“Like we said this morning in our team chat if we have to win it on day four we’ll win it on day four. There’s been a lot of quick matches recently and there seems to be a norm of expecting teams to roll over and this Worcestershire side don’t.
"They compete well, so we knew it was going to be tough but we’ve been on such a good run of playing good cricket and winning games of cricket, there’s an expectancy now that we rock up and expect to win and tomorrow I want more of the same.”
The third day began with Worcestershire holding a lead of 54, with six wickets remaining in their second innings. Joe Clarke and Ross Whiteley had denied Notts on the second evening, adding an unbroken 34 in the closing 10 overs of the session.
They continued in the same vain as Clarke moved to his 50, brought up from 85 balls with his seventh boundary but he fell soon afterwards for 61, as Jake Ball flattened his off pole.
Despite the breakthrough, Notts weren’t able to capitalise further as Ben Cox again played a stubborn innings to thwart the visiting attack.
The wicketkeeper had made 56 on the first day and he impressed again, sweeping his way to 34 out of a stand of 73 before pushing forward to Imran Tahir and edging into the hands of Steven Mullaney at slip.
Whiteley’s fifty had been brought up from 90 balls, which included six fours and a mighty blow for six into the Basil D’Oliveira Stand off Samit Patel.
He was unbeaten on 78 at lunch and nicely poised to push on but hopes of a three figure score were removed three balls into the afternoon as Patel got one to turn and clip off his off bail
Jack Shantry had a wild hoik at Tahir and picked out Brendan Taylor at midwicket for just 6 but a frustrating 9th wicket stand then developed between Saeed Ajmal and Joe Leach.
It was Ball who parted them, getting Ajmal lbw for 19, after a stand of 35 and the same bowler closed out the innings with his third scalp as Leach nicked behind for 40.
Brendan Taylor fell in the first over of the chase, lbw for the second time in the match, this time to Morris for 4. The same bowler struck again in the seventh over, as Hales clipped firmly to second slip where Whiteley hung on to a sharp offering; the opener departing for 9.
It became 37 for three when Mullaney, who made 24, pushed Leach into the hands of point.
James Taylor and Wessels were watchful after tea, playing low-risk cricket as Alex Gidman rotated his four main bowlers. Shantry, in particular, dropped on a good length and conceded only two runs from his first eight over spell.
By their grit and application both batsmen earned the right to kick on and score more heavily as the last session wore on. Wessels reached his 50 from 122 ball, with seven fours and Taylor was within one run of his own half century by stumps.
Despite the promise of a morning shower Notts expect play to begin on time on the fourth day knowing that they have seven wickets in hand as they look to get over the line and complete their second win of the season over Worcestershire, after the 113 run win at Trent Bridge in June.
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