[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

vs Warwickshire

One-Day Cup, Northern Group

New Road, Worcester

For Worcestershire the equation is now mathematically plain: win two games from the remaining three and progression will be guaranteed.  If one of those wins comes against Durham on Sunday, then it'll be a second-place finish and a home quarter-final.  But Wednesday's emphatic defeat at Old Trafford was a timely reminder that the Pears are still underdogs punching above their weight in a tough group, and all bets are off today as they face arch-rivals and reigning champions Warwickshire, now eliminated from the competition and free of pressure, on a rainy day when Duckworth-Lewis may have the final say.  Dark clouds on the horizon in every respect.

Warks innings: Pears won the toss and put the Bears in to bat after a half-hour rain delay.  Sadly, it was deja vu all over again for the Pears as for the second time this week, they had things in hand with the opposition around 150 and a handful of wickets down, only to run up against a partnership in Ian Bell and Rikki Clarke which they couldn't break or contain, and then got knocked all around the ground in the last half-dozen overs.  104 for Bell and 84 not out for Clarke, ably helped along by a shocking thirteen wides and four no-balls, carried Warwickshire to 304-5.  So here we go again chasing a lofty total with scoreboard pressure on, and conditions for batting even worse than they were at Old Trafford.  Worcestershire their own worst enemies, and I fear this is going to take something special from our batsmen to snatch the win.

Worcs innings: The weather came to Worcestershire's aid, the rain commencing at the start of the interval and continuing until nearly four o'clock.  When things got back underway, the Pears were chasing an amended total of 241 from thirty-four overs; a target that favoured us on paper, assuming we weren't at home to Mrs F**k-Up. But of course, Worcestershire are always at home to Mrs F**k-Up, and a series of unfortunate events saw Moeen caught behind for just 7, Pepsi dismissed the same way for a slightly more respectable 24, Mitchell holing out to Sam Hain for 8 and Dolly being run out on his second ball for 1.  At that point, eight overs into the chase, the Pears were 57-4 and reeling, and it required cool heads from Joe Clarke and Ben Cox to steady the ship and build a partnership over the following ten overs. Clarke managed a half-century before going for one big hit too many, and Cox was dismissed LBW one short of his fifty, but the run-rate had accelerated and the Pears middle-order were in business.  Big John Hastings smashed two fours and three sixes on his way to a solid 36, pushing Worcestershire up above Duckworth-Lewis and leaving them needing just 45 off the last 37 deliveries; but with only three wickets remaining and the Bears cranking up the pressure with some tight death-bowling, the atmosphere around New Road was fraught with tension. We needn't have worried. Captain Joe Leach was canny enough to nick a boundary or two and bring the equation to a run a ball, and after biding his time and nudging ones and twos for a while, Ross Whiteley finally lost his patience and started smashing boundaries all over the shop, including a magnificent six to take the Pears to a hard-fought victory over their ageing and ailing neighbours.

With that win, Worcestershire reclaim second place in the group and keep their fate in their own hands. One more will see us through.

Worcestershire WIN by three wickets (D/L)

Star Performer: You can take your pick among the Pears middle-order, to be honest, with a collection of sixes which respectively rattled the windows of the Premier Inn, knocked tiles off the roof of the club offices, endangered a few windscreens in the car park and nearly caused a pile-up on New Road. But above and beyond the efforts of Messrs Hastings, Whiteley and Cox, it took some really mature and astute batting from young Joe Clarke to turn this match around at the point when it looked like the whole campaign might go up in flames. He's had a quieter year so far than his explosive season in 2016, managing a number of fairly decent scores without ever really pushing on and playing a blinder of an innings: this is his first half-century of 2017 in all formats, and it couldn't have come at a better time. Let's hope it spurs him on to even better in the two huge games to come.

Next Match: Worcestershire welcome a formidable Durham side to New Road on Sunday as the race for second place comes to a head.