Final day: Worcestershire (22pts) beat Essex (4pts) by nine wickets
To record a full quota of points on a pitch as docile as the one at Essex was a Herculean effort from Worcestershire.
The stuttering vehicle that lost their opening two Championship encounters against Somerset and Derbyshire has been replaced by a well-oiled machine that is purring like genuine promotion contenders.
In a manner not dissimilar to Warwickshire's title-winning season of 2004, the Pears are accumulating gargantuan totals in their first innings and then sensible, disciplined bowling is paying rich dividends.
Mind you, it does help having the leading wicket-taker in the Second Division up your sleeve.
Zaheer Khan's monumental bowling performance on the second day of this fixture was ostensibly the difference between these two sides. An easy-paced pitch was extremely hard work for the mere mortals on view but Khan's ability to generate swing and movement off the seam where others failed was truly remarkable.
And with Worcestershire's other overseas employee, Phil Jaques, proving to be a behemoth in terms of batting, director of cricket Steve Rhodes deserves an enormous pat on the back.
The Pears lie second in the table and while Jaques and Zaheer's contributions on the pitch have been immense, Rhodes is just as concerned at their impact within the confines of the dressing room.
Last summer, the Worcester camp was not a happy one as overseas players were indulged without justifying the expenditure.
Rhodes, who is in his first full season in the role of director of cricket at New Road, attacked the problem with the same tenacity he used during his playing career and hung his hat on Jaques and Zaheer.
After a brace of early Championship defeats the harbingers of doom were out in force, but Rhodes remained steadfast in his belief and he has been repaid in glorious style during the last month. After his 11 wicket haul in this fixture, Zaheer now has 42 for the season while Jaques rattled up 304 runs in his two innings.
It would be remiss to suggest this Worcestershire outfit is a two-man team, as there have been huge contributions from the supporting cast as well.
However, there is no denying that Jaques and Zaheer have galvanised the team and the impending departure of Jaques to Australia will be a hammer blow. Lou Vincent has an enormous pair of shoes to step into and Jaques will be keen to leave a farewell present in this week's Championship clash with Northamptonshire.
His comrades are certainly indebted to his performances thus far, witness the rousing rendition of their song that reverberated around the County Ground within minutes of their third win on the road this summer.
"The players instigated the singing as they know what we are trying to achieve, which is to get the dressing room right," said Rhodes.
"It is something the players have bought into and are loving it. It is a great morale-boosting song and gives credit to people who have played well in the game. In this game we saluted Phil for his double century and we saluted Zaheer for his nine wickets in the first innings.
"I was absolutely ecstatic with the way we performed and I'm really proud of the guys. They deserve all the accolades as they were fantastic and I couldn't have asked for any more on a wicket that the bat basically dominated all the time, apart from one miraculous spell from Zaheer.
"What a tough effort it was, as they batted a lot better the second time around and you don't often field 142 overs in a second innings in county cricket. It was a Herculean effort from everyone.
"In the winter we looked at our dressing room and we looked at an area we wanted to improve and it was making sure our dressing room was right.
"Thankfully, it has been a test because we lost some early games, but the spirit has been good even with those defeats and we are starting to believe in ourselves and enjoy each other's company."
Stuart Wedge, who had a seven-hour drive when he was plucked from second-team duty because of Kabir Ali's England call-up on day two, also contributed with his first wicket of the summer. It was a crucial wicket too, as it broke a 98-run partnership between Tim Phillips and Alex Tudor.
The fact that Matt Mason, Gareth Batty and Roger Sillence added to their wicket tallies and all the specialist batsmen are scoring heavily ensures this is one promotion bandwagon that looks likely to continue rolling.
