Watch: A heroic rear-guard innings from Worcestershire captain Brett D'Oliveira ended in controversy when he was given out lbw in the evening session, pushing Somerset towards victory.
D'Oliveira resumed on the final day's play in Somerset this morning on 71*, with his side facing down an unlikely task to bat out for a draw still 236 runs behind. Tom Banton's triple century and James Rew's hundred put the game out of reach for Worcestershire to force a result.
Nevertheless, D'Oliveira was unphased as Adam Finch was out early in the day, and continued towards his century - his 13th in first-class cricket when he got there. Embodying a rear-guard innings batting with the tail, shortly after the tea break, D'Oliveira has still only scored 53 runs over the course of the day, and had faced 339 balls for his 124. Having built a strong partnership with Matthew Waite, who scored a half-century, Worcestershire were in with a chance of pulling off an unlikely draw.
However, a ball from Archie Vaughan put paid to the chances of D'Oliveira seeing out the day. Faced with a slow, loopy delivery, well wide of the crease, D'Oliveira planted his front leg well outside the line of off stump to pad the ball away. Despite turning significantly, the ball looked a way off doing enough to hit the stumps, such was the width of the delivery Vaughan had sent down. Former Somerset spinner Vic Marks was seemingly of the same opinion on commentary, saying as the Somerset players went up in appeal: "He won't give that".
Despite that, however, the umpire's finger did indeed go up, prompting the Somerset fielders to sprint away in celebration, and D'Oliveira to hang his head in misery.
Soon after D'Oliveira was adjudged out lbw, Ben Allison was also out, taking Somerset to within two wickets of victory, with Worcestershire still trailing by 71 runs.
Watch: Heroic D'Oliveira innings ends in controversy
OUT!!!!!! A magnificant innings from D'Oliveira is over as he's adjudged LBW!!!
— Somerset Cricket (@SomersetCCC) April 7, 2025
LIVE STREAM ➡️ https://t.co/aRtGCP76ez#SOMvWOR#WeAreSomerset pic.twitter.com/SeLjdiiuOx
Follow Wisden for all cricket updates, including live scores, match stats, quizzes and more. Stay up to date with the latest cricket news, player updates, team standings, match highlights, video analysis and live match odds.
