Kashif Ali powers Worcestershire to brink of promotion

Kashif, 25-years-old, had only scored 98 runs in four previous appearances dating back to last summer.

Here, he led a recovery from 67 for four having been inserted to 280 for five from 80 overs with 15 fours in 131 balls.

The start of this season-ending fixture was delayed until 12.40pm because of rain, and Yorkshire made use of a new ball pitch.

Seamers Ben Coad and George Hill struck twice apiece for a Yorkshire side aiming to elevate themselves off the bottom of Division Two following their mid-season points deduction.

But the Pears recovered strongly through Kashif and captain Brett D’Oliveira, who shared 155 either side of tea. The latter finished on 90 not out off 192 balls.

Worcestershire started the day knowing they would be promoted by reaching 300 inside 110 overs.

Surely now, they will play Division One cricket next summer for the first time since 2018.

Kashif went beyond 50 for the second time this summer and D’Oliveira for the third time in as many matches, the latter also reaching 5,000 first-class career runs in the process.

While Yorkshire’s aim of avoiding bottom place is an important one, it is only to boost morale. They need to win to have any chance.

n Somerset were bailed out by their lower after choosing to bat against Warwickshire on the opening day of their LV=Insurance County Championship game at Edgbaston.

After rain wiped out the first session, the visitors plummeted to 37 for six against a disciplined seam-attack led by the evergreen Chris Rushworth (four for 33).

But captain Tom Abell (22, 84 balls) and Lewis Gregory (39, 48) added 56 for the seventh wicket and, after they perished with the total still short of 100, Neil Wagner (55 not out, 50) and Josh Davbey (28 not out, 53) added an unbroken 84.

n Gloucestershire chief executive Will Brown has called for more innovation to combat the elements after England’s summer ended in soggy fashion with an abandoned one-day international against Ireland at Bristol.

Ben Duckett’s maiden century in this format underpinned England’s 280 for four off 31 overs but their innings in the final match of this Metro Bank series was interrupted by brief but torrential rain.

Brown said: ““It is just gutting. We’ve had our fair share of rain offs such as in World Cups and you wonder if we give it a bit longer maybe it can dry out, but it is what it is. It worries me greatly that this is a sign of things to come. We’ve got a lot of cricket being played in September next year and with climate change we’ve seen heavy rain in June and July.

“I think the game needs to be thinking innovatively about how we get games on or prepare pitches and surfaces using different things to get cricket away.”