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Having starred with the bat for Worcestershire on day two of a tense Rothesay County Championship clash against Gloucestershire, Rehaan Edavalath looked back on his vital 63. Originally named as 12th man for the return to red ball action, Edavalath was thrust into the fray early on the opening day when Gareth Roderick went down with back injury that ended the keeper’s involvement in the match. After watching his bowlers restrict the hosts to 150 all-out, the 22-year-old showed class and composure on his way to a first-class high score of 63 in a mature innings comprised of 134 deliveries. Playing a leading role in a pivotal stand with Brett D’Oliveira on the second day that saw his side edge in front, Edavalath said he was glad to be able to make the most of his opportunity. “I felt good and I feel good in general recently, so hopefully I can build from this and keep going. “You always have to be aware and ready. “When you’re part of the squad, you never know you could play and with this injury replacement rule as well, you just have to be on your toes, so mentally I was there and thankfully I got an opportunity. “Sometimes it’s like that, but you have got to be patient. It is four days, be patient for a long period of time and trust the chance will come. On an attritional and at times turgid day, patience was the name of the game for Worcestershire’s batters, who had D’Oliveira (49* off 114) and Edavalath to thank for digging in over prolonged periods. It was a pitch that offered assistance to spin as the day wore on, with Gloucestershire’s spin duo of Sir Kishore and Ed Middleton getting through the bulk of the work. Edavalath said his battle with the spinners proved testing at times but trusted his technique. “Some did grip and some went straight on, but like I said, you can’t cover both, so I had a game plan for the one that comes back in to try and negate that, so I felt in a good place here. “It was a real challenge, because he (Kishore) didn’t miss that much at all, and you had to be patient. “Moving forward, you might have to more pressure back on him, but for now it was alright.” Ending the day with a lead of 55 runs, the visitors will know they are far from out of the woods yet, with three first innings wickets in hand. Despite the impressive batting riposte throughout the afternoon and evening that has edged the Pears into a lead, Edavalath paid tribute to his bowling attack who acted swiftly to bundle Gloucestershire out after adding just 43 to their overnight score. Ben Allison’s 5-19 and another eye-catching support role from Matthew Waite and Beyers Swanepoel put the visitors in the ascendancy early on the second morning. “A very good overall day actually. “We started off really well this morning, closed off things beautifully, the seamers bowled really well and then with the bat we built nicely. “He (Ben Allison) bowled brilliantly, just stacked an area and his figures showed that, but also, Tommy, Waitey and Beyers, they all were very patient and were unlucky not to get more wickets, but that pressure built up, so they all bowled really well as a group. “Hopefully we can try and build our lead tomorrow because it’s a soft pitch that is gripping and is turning, so try and build our lead and see where we’re at tomorrow. “It would be ideal to like you said to push it towards three figures because it is a wearing pitch and they’ve got some very good spin bowlers.”