[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

T20 Blast, North Group

vs Birmingham

New Road, Worcester

After four consecutive defeats to begin the Blast campaign, Worcestershire were bottom of the North Group and in desperate need of a derby win in their first home match to have any hope whatsoever of a quarter-final place.

Worcs innings: A sunny Jubilee bank holiday morning gave way to a cloudier afternoon in which the Bears won the toss and put the Pears in to bat. Nevertheless, it was the best possible start as Brett D'Oliveira attacked Paul Stirling from the very first ball, slashing three consecutive deliveries to the fence on the off-side before pumping the final ball of the over down the ground for six. Ed Pollock also showed his fair share of intent, edging Henry Brookes through third man for one four, hoisting him down the ground for another and then doing the same to Craig Miles in the following over, before pulling Carlos Brathwaite high over square leg for a maximum. The former Bear's fun came to an end when he feathered one behind down the leg-side for 28, but having been dropped once, Dolly was able to finish the powerplay in style with a swashbuckling uppercut for four, seeing the Rapids onto a healthy 68-1. Making his first Worcs appearance of the season, the newly OBE'd cameo captain Moeen Ali supplied a run-a-ball 16 (including one thumping six over long-on and out of the ground) before edging behind, but after completing a superlative 29-ball half-century halfway through the innings, Dolly continued to motor as he danced down the pitch to biff Danny Briggs into the hospitality boxes for six. Hitting Jake Lintott for a six and a four back to back, he then perished for 71 with the next ball caught at mid-off; however, Colin Munro was able to accelerate until he edged behind on 41 off Brathwaite, and what the Kiwi had begun, Jack Haynes finished in style. The young man enjoying his aestas mirabilis found a penchant for pulling the ball over midwicket, and duly peppered the crowd with quickfire sixes: two came off Brathwaite and one off Miles before the latter offered up a widish slower ball that Haynes slashed to the point boundary to bring up his fifty off 22 balls. A mere three runs off the final over felt almost like an anti-climax after such fireworks, yet the final tally of 217-5 was not only Worcestershire's highest-ever against the Bears, but their third-highest of all time - eclipsed only by 227-6 vs Northants at Chester Road in 2007, and 223-9 vs Glamorgan at New Road in 2005 - giving the Rapids a firm and clear advantage at the break.

Birm innings: Birmingham, predictably, did not intend to die wondering. As Paul Stirling tucked into a painful opening over from Moeen there was a brief fear that it might all come apart at the seams, record score or no record score; but Dillon Pennington struck back in a huge second over, removing Jacob Bethell with a faint nick behind for 2 and Paul Stirling slicing to gully for 22, whilst conceding only three runs. The next over from Pennington saw Alex Davies hole out for 6 courtesy of an incredible diving over-the-shoulder catch by Haynes, and the powerplay ended with the Bears 66-3. An enthralling game-within-a-game then unfolded through the middle overs as Sam Hain and Adam Hose did enough to stay in touch with the required run-rate and establish a platform for the visitors, who were 101-3 at the halfway point; however, when Josh Baker drew a leading edge from Hose that was caught in the deep for 32, it was a crucial breakthrough. The young spinner also saw off Chris Benjamin in the fifteenth over just as the pinch-hitter began to fire, caught behind off an inside edge for 27, and new man Carlos "remember the name" Brathwaite suffered the ignominy of being run out for 5 just three balls later by a throw from his international teammate and Worcs debutant Dwayne Bravo, which caught the West Indian dithering halfway down the wicket. The noisy cadre of Beau Brummies in the stands were awfully quiet all of a sudden, and the Worcs faithful chirping up nicely as Ed Barnard had Sam Hain caught on the midwicket boundary for 45 in the next over. Though some lower-order hitting kept the Bears just about in the chase, Bravo bowled Henry Brookes for 21 and kept his cool during the final over with Birmingham needing an unlikely 25 to win, and the Norman Gifford Trophy came back to New Road in style.

Worcestershire WIN by fifteen runs

The Verdict: An enormously enjoyable bank holiday's cricket that gets Worcs back to winning ways against the old enemy after a couple of sub-par years in the derby. We may have been forced to wait longer for them than anyone really wanted, but Moeen and DJ Bravo add that extra touch of class that's needed to get over the line in close games. That said, the stars of today's show were those ever-present stalwarts Dolly and Haynesy, with an honourable mention for the wicketless Pat Brown who deserved a better return for a showing that offered a glimpse of his past best.