[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

T20 Blast, North Group

vs Yorkshire

Headingley, Leeds

Worcs innings: The Rapids won the toss and elected to bat on a bright and windy Wednesday evening in Leeds. With the exception of one tight over from Dom Bess that saw Ed Pollock bowled for 5, the powerplay was a great success as Brett D'Oliveira and Jack Haynes raced along at above ten an over, until the former was finally caught for 32 off the bowling of Joe Root, leaving the visitors 70-2 after six. This had advanced to 102-2 by the halfway mark, but the loss of Haynes for an excellent 61 was the beginning of the end for Worcestershire's forward momentum. Tight, boundary-less middle overs from the likes of Adil Rashid and Haris Rauf caused a middle-order collapse as Rapids batsmen tried to attack balls that weren't there to be attacked; Ben Cox went for 11, Jake Libby for 25 and Gareth Roderick was run out by a direct hit for a duck as the innings subsided to 147-6. Late resistance from Ed Barnard (before he too departed for 18) helped Worcs up to 172-9 off the twenty, but it was a total well short of what we'd been bound for, and felt at least 20 runs sub-par.

Yorks innings: Crucially, the hosts managed to keep wickets in hand during the chase while keeping step with the required run-rate. There were admirably tight overs here and there, and the occasional wicket - Ed Barnard having Adam Lyth caught for 40, Dolly bowling Tom Kohler-Cadmore for 1, Charlie Morris having Dawid Malan caught for 33 - but when Harry Brook and Joe Root came together at the crease, there was no shifting them. Eleven balls remained when Yorkshire cruised home for the win.

Worcestershire LOSE by seven wickets

The Verdict: In many ways, considering the respective line-ups - Yorkshire's roster of international cricketers versus a Worcestershire XI without a single player even featuring in this year's Hundred - it was a close game with some positives to be taken. Jack Haynes, who could count his previous T20 appearances on his fingers, looked eager to continue his great season and managed his first half-century in the format; Dolly was also a major threat as an opener, and Ed Pollock will certainly do big damage on a better day. The peril of batting first is always the peculiar scoreboard pressure of not knowing what to aim for, and the Rapids were guilty of losing wickets by trying to go too hard against bowlers they should have waited out. With the ball in hand, it was the old Worcestershire T20 story of trying to force batsman errors with economical bowling in the absence of a proper wicket-taking threat, which is sadly a necessity in these first few games until we get Moeen back and our overseas men in. At full strength, this team can certainly cause problems in the North Group, but with three more consecutive matches on the road, the question is whether we can take enough from this first week to keep ourselves in contention for when the superstars arrive.