WORCESTERSHIRE climbed to the top of the Second XI Championship North Division after their win over Leicestershire.

Their seven-wicket success at Royal Grammar School Worcester earned 23 points and moved the County two clear of Lancashire who have a game in hand.

It was their second win in three matches including an abandoned match against Durham at Burnopfield.

Assistant coach Matt Mason was full of praise as the seconds chased down a 326 target in 67 overs with nearly three overs to spare against Leicestershire.

He said: “The boys were very impressive. Right from the outset they played a very attacking form of cricket.

“We won the toss, put them in on the first day and had two early wickets but then it did flatten out and we stuck to the task very well.

“They got a very competitive first-innings total and then we applied ourselves pretty well with the bat.

“But as is often the case in three-day cricket it is sometimes quite hard to force a result so with some negotiation with Leicestershire, who played the game in the right spirit, we were set a challenging chase.

“It was great to put the lads under pressure like that and learn about what it is like to chase down big scores and they did it brilliantly.”

Tom Fell scored 101 and 42 for the County with Alex Hepburn hitting 98 and 76 not out while Adam Wiffen added 77, Ben Twohig 52 and Alex Milton 40no during the match.