WORCESTERSHIRE go into the third day against Durham at New Road needing two more points or just four more wickets to confirm their promotion to Specsavers County Championship Division One.

Having started their final fixture requiring six points to be sure of a top-two position they were halfway to their target when another show of lower-order batting strength took them to a total of 335.

India Test star Ravi Ashwin with 82 for his first half-century in a four-match stint in the championship and all-rounder Ed Barnard with a career-best 75 were the leading players as the last five wickets added 203.

Worcestershire’s bowlers then began the task of taking nine wickets in 110 overs to secure a fifth promotion in 11 years under director of cricket Steve Rhodes.

Three were quickly in the bank, two for Josh Tongue making 47 for the season and one for skipper Joe Leach, until Paul Collingwood (27) and Graham Clark (60) dug in for 18 overs in a stand of 76.

Collingwood was bowled, attempting to cut Ashwin, and Clark hit three sixes in reaching his 50 from 58 balls before he was caught and bowled by Leach off a leading edge.

Durham closed at 142-5, still 193 behind.

For their part it has been a match of emotional calls as Graham Onions and Keaton Jennings, the latter now set to join Lancashire, say their farewells to the county.

Jennings was out for nine, caught behind off Tongue, and Onions took two more wickets after Worcestershire had banked their third batting point.

The former England seamer wrapped up a return of 4-68 when he had Leach caught in the gully and then bowled Tongue.

Although the pitch took some spin, 18-year-old Liam Trevaskis capturing his first Championship wicket by bowling Ashwin, Durham were unable to force home their position after a useful morning’s work.

Joe Clarke was a comforting presence for Worcestershire in a tricky first hour.

The England Lions batsman resumed on 46 in an overnight score of 90-3 and quickly completed his half-century at close to a run-a-ball.

However, he was to hit only two more boundaries, making 10 in all, before Onions drew him into a drive outside the off-stump and saw the edge neatly taken by Collingwood at first slip.

George Rhodes went for nine, given out lbw when playing back to off-spinner Ryan Pringle, and Ben Cox, after making 30 out of 66 with Ashwin, was bowled by Cameron Steel just before lunch.

With Worcestershire on 204-6, they needed a big effort to secure their initial objective of a 300-plus total.

The impetus came from Ashwin and was brilliantly built on by Barnard with his fifth Championship half-century of the summer.

Although essentially signed as a world-class spin bowler, Ashwin has proved he is more than capable of batting in the top six at any level.

His innings was exactly what Worcestershire required and when he was deceived in the air by Trevaskis Barnard was there to make the most of support from the tail.

Three sixes, one of which smashed a window in the entrance to an on-site café, backed up half-a-dozen other boundaries by a fast-maturing 21-year-old who has scored 580 Championship runs and taken more than 40 wickets this season.

When joined by last man Pat Brown, he made one last effort to take his side closer to 350 but was bowled when aiming an over-ambitious shot at a ball from Mark Wood.