History caught up with Gloucestershire as they lost control of the Second Division promotion race in the Frizzell County Championship with their 111-run defeat by Worcestershire.

After 17 years without a championship victory at New Road, they blew up on the last day as West Country rivals Somerset joined them at the top of the table by beating Hampshire.

In a major turnaround, Worcestershire recovered to make 212 the highest score of the match and then dismissed Mark Alleyne's team for 98 to register their first championship success of the season with 22 overs to spare.

Anurag Singh, dropped twice in his sketchy progress to 36 overnight, created the opportunity by carrying his bat for an unbeaten 83 and the job was ruthlessly finished by their pace bowling quartet.

Nantie Hayward took two wickets in his first three overs and Kabir Ali removed the dangerous Craig Spearman for 24 before coming back to mop up the last three in 11 balls.

Andrew Hall played his part with a pair of lbw decisions to dismiss Matt Windows and Jack Russell, and Matt Mason bowled Alleyne in his first over, but probably the most crucial incident was a mix-up in which Jonty Rhodes ran himself out for 13.

Gloucestershire have now lost 10 of their last 11 championship meetings with Worcestershire but this was as disappointing as any after they had developed a matchwinning position on the third day.

Worcestershire were 72 ahead when losing their fifth wicket and only escaped through Singh's diligence in more than doubling his aggregate of 64 from his first five championship innings this season.

His return to form was due to hard work and grim determination.

He hit only 10 boundaries from 213 deliveries but built a platform for maximum assistance from his remaining partners.

The last five wickets added 140, starting with a belligerent 35 from Hall in the only half-century stand of a low-scoring match in which numerous batsmen were bemused by low bounce.

New Zealander Ian Butler, in his third and last match as the overseas replacement for Ian Harvey, gave Gloucestershire a glimmer of a chance by dismissing Hall and Gareth Batty in quick succession.

However, Steve Rhodes held on for 10 overs until Mike Smith claimed his ninth wicket of the game and Mason hammered a brisk 29 before he top-edged to backward point off Jon Lewis.

Butler finished with 4-74, but his send-off was to complete a "pair" as Gloucestershire collapsed in only 32 overs.

SATURDAY SCOREBOARD

Frizzell County Championship

Division One

Chelmsford: Surrey 376 (M P Bicknell 141, Azhar Mahmood 77, G P Thorpe 52, G R Napier 4-82) & 381-7 dec (J N Batty 168 no, A D Brown 64, A J Hollioake 51, G R Napier 4-124) v Essex 252 (J M Dakin 59, A Flower 51, M P Bicknell 4-67) & 247 (A Habib 61, J Ormond 5-82). Surrey (21pts) beat Essex (5pts) by 258 runs. Grace Road: Middlesex 201 (D L Maddy 5-49) & 142-5 dec v Leicestershire 198 (J N Snape 54, C B Keegan 5-61, S J Cook 4-42) Leicestershire (7pts) drew with Middlesex (8pts). Horsham: Sussex 619-7 dec (M J Prior 133, R R Montgomerie 105, K J Innes 103 no, P A Cottey 58, T R Ambrose 55) & 52-0 v Nottinghamshire 421 (K P Pietersen 166, B M Shafayat 71, G E Welton 50, Mushtaq Ahmed 6-163) & 247 (D J Bicknell 61, Mushtaq Ahmed 6-81, R J Kirtley 4-74). Sussex (22pts) beat Nottinghamshire (7pts) by 10 wkts. Edgbaston: Warwickshire 311 (J O Troughton 120, N M K Smith 57, M J Saggers 5-62) & 124-2 (M A Wagh 50 no) v Kent 376 (M J Walker 106, G S Blewett 71, M A Carberry 58, D R Brown 5-72), Warwickshire (10pts) drew with Kent (11pts).

Division Two

Riverside: Durham 317 (G J Pratt 62, V J Wells 61, M L Love 54, J J B Lewis 52, K J Dean 4-41) & 149 (G Welch 5-60) v Derbyshire 244 (M J Di Venuto 150, D Pretorius 4-96) & 192 (Shahid Afridi 67, D G Cork 52, D Pretorius 4-49). Durham (20pts) beat Derbyshire (4pts) by 30 runs. The Rose Bowl: Somerset 308 (J Cox 127 no, K P Dutch 61) & 128-4 v Hampshire 129 (N A M McLean 4-31) & 306 (D A Kenway 94, R A Smith 55, N A M McLean 4-64). Somerset (20pts) beat Hampshire (3pts) by 6 wkts. New Road: Worcestershire 175 (A M Smith 5-70) & 212 (A Singh 83 no, I G Butler 4-74, A M Smith 4-41) v Gloucestershire 178 (M Hayward 4-58) & 98 (Kabir Ali 4-39). Worcestershire (17pts) beat Gloucestershire (3pts) by 111 runs. Headingley: Yorkshire 209 (G M Fellows 53, M S Kasprowicz 4-51) & 159-1 dec (M J Wood 73 no, S A Richardson 50) v Glamorgan 315 (M A Wallace 94, M P Maynard 51, C E W Silverwood 4-57). Yorkshire (8pts) drew with Glamorgan (10pts).