[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

T20 Blast, North Group

vs Leicestershire

New Road, Worcester

Worcs innings: The Pears won the toss and elected to bat as a cloudy and chilly start to Whit Monday gave way to yet another warm summer's day. Another shaky start saw Michael Bracewell LBW for 4 and Brett D'Oliveira caught behind for 4, and despite three boundaries in an over to push the score up quickly from a precarious 10-2 to 30-2, Jack Haynes then departed LBW for 17 to make it an ominous third wicket in a powerplay which ended on 58-3. The subsidence continued with Adam Hose perishing for 13 to a mistimed shot off Callum Parkinson, and at the halfway mark the sole sustained resistance was coming from Kashif Ali, who completed his half-century off 33 balls. When he finally holed out for 69, Ed Pollock managed a second daft dismissal in a row as he contrived to run himself out for a golden duck, and on 130-6 the innings was in serious danger of fizzling out in the last five. But with superb support from old stalwart Ben Cox, instant fan favourite Usama Mir - playing what was, theoretically, his last game for the club - announced himself at the crease with two half-trackers from Rehan Ahmed hoisted to the legside for six in a huge statement of intent. Though Coxy holed out to deep square leg for 28 in the penultimate over, Mir continued his assault right to the final ball, finishing 32 not out as he pushed Worcs up to a par score of 183-7.

Leics innings: Some loose seam bowling in the first couple of overs allowed the Foxes a decent start, and it took the introduction of Bracewell to make a breakthrough, having Sol Budinger caught at deep midwicket for 8. But it proved the only wicket in a powerplay that ended on 44-1, slightly lighter on runs than Worcestershire but with more batsmen in the hutch. As the spinners turned the screw through the middle overs, it seemed that wickets in hand and a charge at the death would be the Leicestershire strategy, but when Nick Welch carted Dolly straight to long-on for 37 it opened the door for Worcs, and three balls later the skipper proceeded to bowl Colin Ackermann through the gate for 1 with a glorious wrong 'un. With the run-rate climbing, Rishi Patel got a bit too eager to take on Mir and was stumped for 42, leaving the Foxes 102-4 with seven overs remaining. It became a procession from there; Arron Lilley LBW to Mir for 6, Wiaan Mulder caught in the deep off the bowling of Bracewell, Rehan Ahmed bowled for 1 by Pat Brown, who then doubled up to have Harry Swindells caught and trebled up with Owais Shah edging behind as Leicestershire staggered to a limp 150-9.

Worcestershire WIN by thirty-three runs

The Verdict: For the second time in just over a week, New Road proves a happy venue for Fox-hunting, and in truth the Pears made it look easier than it probably was. Last summer, a bad start in the first innings would have simply snowballed for us; it's a measure of the quality of Kashif Ali, and of Usama Mir, that they were able to attack so smartly and effectively to push us up to a solid score. In the chase, our spinners again proved the difference, and it's starting to look like Pat Brown is getting back to his best at the death. It could be argued that these opening three wins have been against sides struggling in the group, and the real test will lie ahead, but for now there's no shortage of wind in Worcs sails, and it's great to see.