Groundsman Roy McLaren's last Championship match at New Road appeared to be in danger of folding in two days as Gloucestershire crashed to 21 for 5 in their second innings.

But McLaren, who is retiring after 18 years in the job, was spared an abrupt send-off when the West Country side rallied for long enough in a partnership of 35 by Jeremy Snape and Jack Russell.

Kabir Ali came back to nail Snape for 25 and finished with a career-best 5 for 22 as the visitors were dismissed for 87. In two overs before the close Worcestershire safely made 14 towards a victory requirement of 70.

Gloucestershire's top-order collapse was the work of Andy Bichel and Kabir in exploiting a seaming pitch of uneven bounce. The new-ball pair bombed out the first five wickets in 39 deliveries, starting with a leading edge by Kim Barnett and peaking with two in successive balls for Bichel.

Mark Alleyne became a first-ball victim for Bichel for the second day in a row and the Australian went on to take 4 for 32 for a match return of 10 for 86. Alleyne had some compensation for his "king pair" after claiming 4 for 30 when Worcestershire were dismissed for 240 after starting the day in an unbroken stand of 84 by openers Philip Weston and Anurag Singh.

Ian Harvey had danger man Graeme Hick caught at slip in a morning spell of 10-7-12-2, but the other wicket-takers, James Averis and Ben Gannon, were much more expensive.

Worcestershire finally scrambled a lead of 18 thanks to 45 by Paul Pollard in his first innings for a month and a rapid 25 by Kabir.

© CricInfo