[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

One-Day Cup, Group B

vs Sussex

New Road, Worcester

Sussex innings: Sussex won the toss and elected to bat on a warm and wonderful Sunday morning, suggesting they've paid little attention to how the New Road pitch plays during a first innings. Bowling over the wicket, Matthew Waite dispatched left-hander Harrison Ward LBW for 2 with a full inswinger off the ninth delivery of the day, and Worcestershire tightened the screw when Dillon Pennington - also going over the wicket to Sussex's top-order southpaws - gave the slip cordon catching practice, nipping a length ball away from Tom Alsop's back-foot defensive and producing a fuller one with a hint of outswing to beat an aggressive straight drive from Tom Haines in his next over. After a short rebuild, and with one stump to aim at, Jake Libby was bang on the mark with a pick up and throw to run out James Coles for 24, while partner Zak Lion-Cachet - one of two Sussex debutants to sound like he'd stepped off a scorecard from a century ago - departed for 34 after chopping Josh Baker onto the stumps; the first of three for the young spinner, who then had Charlie Tear caught at extra cover and Bertie Foreman - the pipe-smoking 1920s coal miner to Lion-Cachet's raffish Agatha Christie cad - bowled for 35. The latter had contributed well to a decent stand with Daniel Ibrahim, who made a half-century before being caught at deep square leg off Logan van Beek as he tried to accelerate in the final ten; the Dutchman then had Sean Hunt caught before a Rob Jones run-out wrapped up the innings, 190 all out with four overs to spare.

Worcs innings: Worcestershire took no needless risks early doors, scoring at a red-ball rate as the openers waited until the seventh over before striking a boundary and ended the first powerplay on 37-0. When Gareth Roderick upped the tempo, it led to his downfall on 41 as he was taken at long-on, but Azhar Ali was able to make a 61-ball half-century and it took just 26 balls to reach the same milestone for Kashif Ali in another dynamite knock. With the Ali twins blazing it around the park the chase was never in doubt, and the Pears booked their quarter-final place in style with barely more than half of the innings elapsed.

Worcestershire WIN by eight wickets

The Verdict: Whisper it quietly (because July's humiliating T20 quarter-final is still distressingly fresh in the mind), but for the first time in four years we have a Worcestershire white-ball team that's going places. We'll have to wait until Tuesday to find out whether we have a home or away knockout, as Gloucestershire have one last opportunity to leapfrog us back into second place against Durham, but as long as we can finish the summer proper with some fire in our belly - the weekend will bring a T20 encounter with New Zealand as well as Sunday's quarter-final - us Pears will be a happy bunch.