WORCESTERSHIRE fought back admirably in their County Championship match with Durham to secure an unlikely draw.

Captain Brett D’Oliveira (100) and Ed Barnard (116) stood firm with centuries on day three after Durham posted a mammoth 642/7 in their first innings.

A final wicket stand between Gareth Roderick (45*) and Dillon Pennington (44) after lunch on the final day meant Worcestershire avoided the follow on and eventually posted 550 all out. 

Their efforts meant Durham ‘s lead had been whittled down to just 92 with 46 overs left in the match and despite their best efforts, they ran out of time to win the match and settled on the draw.

The day had started with Worcestershire 405-6 and in a good position for a draw, but still with work to do. 

Barnard and Roderick came to the crease and the former added a few more runs to his score before he was caught and bowled by Paul Coughlin. 

Josh Baker (3) lasted just 16 minutes before he too fell to Coughlin, with Chris Rushworth taking the catch as Worcestershire fell eight wickets down. 

Ben Gibbon (0) came in to try and extend the innings and despite lasting almost an hour, he fell without scoring when caught by Scott Borthwick off the bowling of Liam Trevaskis. 

At this point it looked like maybe Durham could turn it around in time and find a way to win the match but a 69-run final wicket stand proved decisive. 

Dillon Pennington came in at number 11 and batted brilliantly to score the runs that meant Worcestershire avoided the follow on. 

Pennington hit eight fours on his way to a swift 44 from just 63 deliveries before eventually Jonathan Bushnell removed him. 

Roderick remained unbeaten on 45 from 181 balls, an innings that lasted well over three hours. 

It meant Durham had 46 overs in which to try and turn a now almost certain draw into a victory. 

Openers Rachin Ravindra (46*) and Michael Jones (50*) remained unbeaten as they extended the lead to close to 200 but eventually the captains agreed to settle the match as a draw.