[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

One-Day Cup, Group B

vs Gloucestershire

New Road, Worcester

After a frustrating defeat in Taunton, bowled out a couple of dozen short after playing one too few batsmen in pursuit of a gettable target, Worcestershire are back on the horse on home turf and buoyed by new signings Ethan Brooke and Logan van Beek.


Worcs innings: Gloucestershire won the toss and put the Pears in to bat on a sun-soaked Thursday that promised a little life in this fickle summertime yet. The pitch at first seemed to offer life too, sufficient to justify James Bracey's decision; Zaman Akhter's opening over went for just one squirted run on the on-side, Tom Price found some outswing off a full length in a second over that could easily have replicated his Championship hat-trick from April, and Akhter followed up immediately with a maiden that tempted Ed Pollock into a few careless swishes of the bat outside off, so it was a just reward for the visitors when the opener departed for 2 in the sixth over to a full, straight stump-to-stump delivery over the wicket from Tom Price that nipped away, took the edge of an attempted on-drive and flew to first slip. Not until the fifty-second delivery of the match did the trickle of ones and twos give way to a first boundary as Gareth Roderick (who'd enjoyed some good fortune thus far) skipped down to Zaman Akhter and lofted a full one over extra cover, and it proved to be the only one of the opening powerplay which the Pears concluded on 24-1, with almost as many unsuccessful Gloucestershire appeals as runs on the board. But if the boys from Bristol thought they were in for a low-scoring bum-squeaker, the ensuing acceleration would have come as a nasty surprise; with the ball ageing and the surface browning nicely in the sun, a busy second-wicket partnership played increasingly confident strokes, picked up dogged ones and twos and found safe routes to the rope where possible. Gloucs struck back with a short one from Anwar Ali that had Rob Jones feathering behind on the pull for 20, but Worcestershire's innings continued to gather pace as Rodders took a liking to Paul van Meekeren, producing a delightful well-controlled cut backward of point for four and a far streakier top-edged six over deep fine leg before cover-driving Akhter en route to a hard-fought 57-ball half-century. With the two red-ball openers rattling along above a run a ball, the Pears were 117-2 at the halfway stage as Gloucs turned to their spinners, and some enticing long-hops from Graeme van Buuren tempted skipper Jake Libby from his watchful stance into some expansive boundary shots as he advanced to his fifty off 55 deliveries, reaching the landmark by taking Tom Price for a couple of crunching pulls then a flat-batted four back over the bowler's head. A precisely run-a-ball ton - his first in this format for the county - for Rodders was the next milestone, and while he anchored the innings, Libby was free to unleash the kitchen sink and every other appliance on the increasingly demoralised Gloucestershire attack; a ramp, an effortless chip straight down the ground and two fierce pulls were the highlights of a tired-looking Anwar Ali over that went 4-1-2-6-4-6, and it was a shame when the captain's fun had to end on 86, caught at gully off a thick edge. Rodders was the next to go for 137, and in similar fashion, having bested his previous List A high score of 104, but kept the crowd entertained to the very end with a cavalier reverse-sweep for six and a four slog-swept over cow corner from way outside off. All that remained was the pepper the boundaries at ten an over for the remainder, and in that cause Kashif Ali plundered a dashing 39, Matthew Waite 24, and debutant Logan van Beek a brutal 41 off just 19 balls, including the brace off a Tom Price beamer that carried Worcs beyond their previous highest List A score versus Gloucs, 316 scored off forty overs at New Road in August 2008. 375-7 was the eventual damage, Worcestershire's fourth-highest one-day total, just one run short of the third-highest and a maximum away from being our best against a first-class opponent. A long and far cry from 24-1 after ten.

Gloucs innings: Gloucestershire tried to mirror the slow-and-steady beginning Worcestershire had used early on, and even did a better job of keeping the scoreboard ticking above four an over, but a rapid double-blow either side of the first powerplay's end saw Van Beek prise out James Bracey for 16 with a mistimed pull for his maiden Pears wicket, and Ben Gibbon have new man Ollie Price held slicing low to point for 2. Gloucs social media had trumpeted to the heavens the return of Harry Tector to their side, but the Irishman ran himself out for 2 haring down the pitch like a bewildered emu, and Graeme van Buuren followed two overs later for 12 when Pat Brown struck his back leg bang in front of middle stump, despite the veteran inanely moseying three feet outside off-stump after the impact and then giving the umpire a meaningful glare from his new home, as if the LBW laws make allowance for one who decides to go on holiday to silly point after the finger's been raised. One every couple of overs had been the pattern since the first wicket fell, and it culminated with a second for Browny as he dusted off his 2018 vintage knuckle ball to draw a mistimed defence from Chris Dent that offered a simple return catch for 38, and from there it was almost anti-climactic, as the visitors never looked a threat to Worcestershire's total however patient their rebuild. Another small subsidence around the thirty-over mark saw Van Beek have Tom Price caught at mid-on for 43, Anwar Ali hole out off Libby for 6 and Josh Baker strangle Tom Smith down the leg-side for 7, but few at New Road begrudged Jack Taylor - who threw away his innings and the match on 98 at Cheltenham a fortnight ago after a bit of shithousery from Dillon Pennington - the maiden List A century he completed in the ten overs that followed; the only man in the Gloucs line-up to find the boundary with anything close to the ease Worcs did, and indeed, the only one to clear the ropes at all. Just when it looked like the Pears had resigned themselves to letting Taylor harmlessly whack his way through the dying overs, Van Beek had him caught for 121 with ten balls remaining, and fellow Dutchman Van Meekeren was seen off for a golden duck next delivery to leave Gloucestershire 290 all out.

Worcestershire WIN by eighty-five runs

The Verdict: Our most enjoyable one-dayer since Covid? With due apologies to 2021's tail-end comeback victory against Kent and a thumping win over Essex at Chelmsford a week or two later, it's a resounding yes. In fact, in terms of pure boundary-bashing joy there hasn't been a game like it since one Callum Ferguson was keeping the windscreen repair firms of Worcester in business some four or five years ago, and there's an argument to be made that unlike the pancake-flat deck that allowed the Aussie to tumble records against Leicestershire in 2018, Gareth Roderick's gear-shifting knock that began against nagging, nipping, bat-beating jaffas was played on a more challenging surface. Halfway through the group stage we've already surpassed our total wins in 2022, but two T20 humiliations against Warwickshire so far this season are crying out to be avenged, so Sunday will be colossal.