Worcestershire 112 and 231 for 4 (Kashif 76*, Hose 50) beat Durham 190 and 152 (Ackermann 40, Taylor 4-48, Smith 4-52) by six wickets
Half-centuries from Kashif Ali and Adam Hose led Worcestershire to a six-wicket win against Durham at the Seat Unique Riverside, their first win of the Vitality County Championship season.
Ali (76 not out) and Hose (50) came together when the visitors were 65 for three and combined for a partnership worth 129, which took the game away from the hosts, who will be left scratching their heads after they were firmly in the ascendancy prior to the lunch break on day three.
Worcestershire wrapped up the Durham second innings early on, with the Pears needing 231 to break their winning duck.
Gareth Roderick batted positively early on and set a platform for Ali and Hose to guide the visitors to a vital win in the Division One relegation battle.
Ali, a graduate of the South Asian Cricket Academy, has been a bright spark in a difficult season for Worcestershire and picked up his second half-century of the match to give his side that all-important first win of the season, while Hose, who has now got fifties in back-to-back matches, was also imperative to the win.
For Durham it is a first home defeat in the County Championship since April 2022, but it drags them back towards the bottom end of the table, with the North East county now just 11 points ahead of today's victors, who occupy the second relegation spot.
Resuming on 148 for nine, the job for Bas De Leede and Ben Raine was to get as many runs as possible for the hosts, but they only added four to the total, as Ben Allison got De Leede for three when the Dutch international edged to second slip.
Beginning their chase of 231, the Pears' opening duo of Roderick and Jake Libby had the job of giving the visitors a good start with a difficult chase on their hands, as the pitch had given the bowlers plenty of assistance in the previous two days.
While Roderick initially struggled against Raine, he started to go through the gears and punched one from Matthew Potts down the ground for four, which was followed by a glorious cover drive in Ben Stokes' opening over.
Despite the visitors making a good start to their chase, there was a sense that a wicket was coming as Libby survived an LBW appeal from Peter Siddle and Roderick nearly chopped a Stokes delivery onto his stumps.
Durham then made the breakthrough with Stokes getting Roderick for 38, as he attempted a pull shot from a short ball but he feathered it through to Ollie Robinson behind the stumps.
Wickets came like buses for Durham as a second arrived soon after as Libby went for 19 after he whipped a Siddle ball to mid-wicket to swing the momentum back to the hosts. Stokes then dismissed Rob Jones with an absolute beauty as he bowled him for one to leave Worcestershire 65 for three.
First innings top scorer Ali and Hose then came together and saw the visitors through to lunch without further loss.
Ali and Hose looked to consolidate after lunch and withstanded a lot of short-pitched bowling from the Durham attack.
The pair then took 12 from a De Leede over to reach the 50 partnership, with Ali taking a liking to the all-rounder's bowling.
The number three then followed this up with a perfect cover drive for four from a Potts ball and then former Warwickshire man Hose played a great straight drive for four.
Ali survived an LBW shout on 33 as Siddle was convinced he had his man, but the umpire thought there was an inside-edge, while an erratic over from Stokes went for 15 to only add to Durham's woes.
Hose continued to cash in on the England captain's bowling and got back-to-back fours including a delightful cover drive. Ali then reached his half-century from 77 balls, with Hose reaching his milestone soon after from 86 balls.
Raine finally broke the partnership when Hose was caught behind for 50, but the excellent Ali finished unbeaten on 76 and guided his side home.
