Yorkshire face an uphill battle to avoid a Specsavers County Championship defeat against Worcestershire at Scarborough.
The struggling visitors enjoyed the better of the second day of this Division One fixture as experienced opener Daryl Mitchell and England all-rounder Moeen Ali starred with a watchful unbeaten centuries.
The White Rose only struck once with the ball, but they were unlucky not to have had more success.
Mitchell, 34, helped Worcester reply to Yorkshire’s first day 216 all out with 310-1 during another weather-affected day, which saw 28.3 overs lost to rain and bad light from late afternoon onwards.
Mitchell hit his third century of the Championship campaign, the previous two coming in a home win over Lancashire in June, and he closed on 140 not out from 270 balls.
Moeen posted his first Championship hundred since April 2016 and finished the day unbeaten on 107 off 167.
Mitchell shared century partnerships for the first and second wickets with Tom Fell (45) and Moeen, who is captaining the Pears following an early-season injury to regular skipper Joe Leach.
They will continue their second-wicket stand of 199 at the start of day three.
Jack Brooks claimed the only wicket of the day, getting Fell lbw before lunch to leave the score at 111-1.
Tim Bresnan and David Willey had confident caught behind appeals against Mitchell turned down, while there were a number of plays and misses throughout the day.
If there was any criticism of the White Rose, it was that they erred in length a touch on a typically pacy North Marine Road pitch.
Moeen, left out of England’s first three Tests against India having been named in each squad, followed Mitchell’s lead.
He had some early luck as an inside-edge off Willey flew past his leg stump to the the fine-leg fence, but he was largely watchful in helping his former skipper take the visitors into the lead late on in a shortened afternoon session due to rain.
Worcester started the day on 39-0.
Fell will be encouraged by his first taste of life as a first-class opener before he departed to Brooks midway through the morning.
Mitchell reached his fifty off 91 balls and then his century off another 100 balls.
The ball after getting there, he drove Adam Lyth through the covers for four to take his side into the lead at 217-1.
Shortly before that milestone, Moeen had reached his fifty off 85 balls.
Rain took the players off at 3.20pm and caused a 90-minute delay, including tea, with a loss of 19 overs from the day’s allotted 104.
Moeen clubbed Josh Poysden for six over long-on the first ball after tea and then handsomely drove Willey through the covers for four to take the visiting lead beyond 150.
Matthew Fisher, playing his first Championship match of the season like Willey, was the pick of the White Rose bowlers.
He bowled an impressive spell at the start of the day and returned later on with the new ball and troubled Moeen.
Moeen later offered a tough chance to Fisher running around to deep square-leg with the last ball of the day before bad light meant a loss of another 9.3 overs.
The England man had flayed Brooks over cover to bring up his ton off 160 balls.
