ALL-ROUNDER Ed Barnard’s memorable performance with bat and ball proved in vain as Worcestershire went down by 83 runs on day three of the Specsavers County Championship match with Somerset at the Cooper Associates County Ground at Taunton.
Barnard finished with 6-37 as Somerset were bowled out for 255 in their second innings to set the visitors a 279 target.
But despite a top score of 45 not out from Barnard, to go with his first innings half century, Worcestershire were dismissed for 195 in mid-afternoon.
His magnificent performance with the ball produced the best match analysis by a Worcestershire bowler for 19 months.
Barnard ended the match with figures of 11-89 – 5-52 in the first innings and 6-37 in the second.
He continued the form he demonstrated during the second half of last season with the ball after clicking into a rhythm in early July against Gloucestershire at Cheltenham.
It was the best Worcestershire match analysis since paceman Miguel Cummins’ performance against Sussex at Hove in September 2016.
Cummins, brought to the county for the finale of the campaign, finished with figures of 36.3-3-166-12.
The West Indian bowler took 7-84 in the first innings and then helped Worcestershire to a thrilling 11-run win with 5-82 in the second.
Barnard’s second-innings figures produced the first six-wicket haul for a Worcestershire player since Josh Tongue’s performance in the home Division Two match with Glamorgan last June.
Tongue ended with 6-97 including a memorable burst of five wickets in four overs during the evening session on the opening day although Glamorgan eventually recovered from 58-6 to win by nine wickets.
Barnard said: “I want to kick on again and to better both of those stats would be nice but more importantly we need to make sure we keep Worcestershire in the division and finish as high as we can in Division One.
“It is always nice to get those individual accolades but the most important thing is the team and seeing where we can finish up.
“We’ve got a very exciting side and it is very exciting times to see where we can push and finish in this division.”