[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

T20 Blast, Northern Group

vs Birmingham

Edgbaston, Birmingham

Worcs innings: On a grey evening, the Bears won the toss and put the Pears in to bat. Worcestershire came into the game needing a win to return to the top two and secure a home quarter-final, as well as completing a clean sweep against the Bears in all available games this summer. A good solid start saw the visitors rattling along at just under ten an over until Joe Clarke was bowled, but the true powerhouse was Moeen, who made his second century of the summer at Edgbaston - and his first T20 ton for the Pears, surpassing his previous best of 90 against Northants in 2015 - in the course of pushing Worcs up to 209-5 off the twenty, breaking their own record against the Bears for the second time this campaign.

Birm innings: Somehow, in this fixture Worcestershire always end up in a proper game. There was some real punishment for the Pears bowlers in the powerplay, not least off Ed Pollock, who helped to keep the Bears ahead of the chase until he was caught behind off the ever-lethal Pat Brown. The game remained in the balance until the death with boundaries and wickets coming at regular intervals, and though Worcestershire kept things on a relatively tight leash, forcing the home side into a position of needing 38 off the last 12 balls, Grant Elliott smashed Wayne Parnell for 4, 6 and 6 off the first three deliveries of the penultimate over, bringing it right down to 22 off 9. Credit to Parnell, he came back magnificently to finish the over with two singles and the wicket of Elliott, leaving Pat Brown to defend the last twenty runs. With no less than three dot balls, three runs conceded and a run out, Brown did so with effortless ease, and as news came through that Durham's tie with Derbyshire was abandoned due to rain, Worcestershire were celebrating not just a clean sweep over the Bears and a home quarter-final, but also taking the group title on net run-rate for the first time in the county's T20 history.

Worcestershire WIN by fifteen runs

Worcestershire are CHAMPIONS of the Northern Group

The Verdict: Considering how low my expectations were for this T20 campaign after two summers of misery in the shortest format, it's nothing short of astounding to see the Pears top the North Group in both white-ball tournaments this year, and it's richly deserved. A huge factor in our success is the coming-of-age of Pat Brown, who not only finishes the group stage as the highest wicket-taker, but also stands joint-fourth in the stakes of the most wickets taken in *any* English T20 campaign behind Alfonso Thomas (33), Danny Briggs (31) and Kieron Pollard (29).

As one of only two counties never to make finals day, the upcoming hurdle is the most important. Worcestershire will face Gloucestershire at New Road next Saturday for a place in the last four, but in the meantime, we travel to Scarborough on Sunday to attempt an unlikely escapology act in the County Championship.