Three quick wickets set up win bid

7:03pm Friday 18th April 2008

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WORCESTERSHIRE will be closing in on victory tomorrow in their opening LVCC Division Two match at Warwickshire after taking three wickets in the final hour this evening.

Having set the Bears 482 to win, the New Road side left 16 overs to bowl at the hosts.

With showers expected in Birmingham tomorrow, Worcestershire might have done themselves out of victory but two wickets from Gareth Batty and one from Kabir Ali gave the County plenty of hope for the morning.

Kabir is delighted with the way Worcestershire have performed at Edgbaston and is relishing the chance to wrap the Bears up quickly after they closed on 26-3.

"There is still plenty left in the wicket for the seamers," said Kabir. "And Gareth is managing to find a bit of turn.

"They have a nightwatchman in so hopefully we can get a few early wickets and wrap the game up. There was never any concern about leaving enough time to bowl Warwickshire out. We can't rely on the weather.

"Hopefully, Simon Jones will be able to bowl on the final day but if not, then I have been here before so we are pretty confident.

"We couldn't have asked for a better start to the season. The bowlers have all chipped in with wickets and the guys with the bat have got a few hundreds. Vikram Solanki batted brilliantly and Graeme Hick just keeps on going."

Worcestershire resumed on 150-2 yesterday and, with a lead of 184 runs, it was a case of when the New Road side were going to declare.

Solanki batted beautifully for his 140, while Hick looked in good shape for his 101.

No side have scored more than 417 at Edgbaston in the fourth innings to win and the hosts face a target of 482.

Kabir and Steve Magoffin looked lively with the ball in the final hour's play.

Jones was still feeling the effects of his stiff neck but is expected to appear at some stage in the final day.