[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

T20 Blast, North Group

vs Nottinghamshire

Trent Bridge, Nottingham

Worcs innings: The Pears won the toss and put the Outlaws in to bat on a pleasant Thursday evening in early June. An early assault on the boundary from the openers got Worcestershire out of the blocks, but also cost us Matthew Waite to a top-edge for 11, closely followed by Ed Pollock bowled for 16 and Josh Cobb holing out for 11, resulting in a dubious 50-3 off the powerplay. And there was time for it to get rapidly (pun intended) worse, as Ethan Brookes was run out, Rob Jones caught and Tom Taylor bowled in consecutive overs, leaving the visitors 58-6. It took a brisk half-century rebuild from Adam Hose and Nathan Smith to get the innings back on track, and when the former was bowled for 36, Smudge managed to stick at the crease and complete his half-century as he pushed the Pears up to an unconvincing but vaguely competitive 154-8.

Notts innings: What's better than a knuckle ball off a length? A knuckle ball off a length that has Joe Clarke caught and bowled for 9 by Tom Taylor, of course! When Alex Hales flicked Smudge off his pads to deep square and Adam Finch nailed a yorker that removed Jack Haynes LBW for 11, things looked very promising with Notts restricted to 32-3 off the powerplay. Their gameplan from there was clearly to keep wickets in hand and take no unnecessary risks, but a promising partnership broke when Matt Montgomery smacked Taylor straight to midwicket for 20, and when the ex-Northants man got his fingers to a straight drive and ran out non-striker Will Young for 25 off the very next delivery, the fat lady was already clearing her lungs. Hayden Walsh struck at just the right time with his maiden Worcestershire wicket to remove Lyndon James for 7, and Calvin Harrison's run out with a throw from Hose condemned the hosts to limp through the last couple of overs with their tail between their legs and nowhere near enough Worcestershire rejects to save them from yet another richly-deserved spanking.

Worcestershire WIN by twenty runs

The Verdict: Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. Furthermore, ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha haaaaaaaaaa, ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. And may I add HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HAAAAAAAAAAA HA HA HA HA HA. The Worcester boys are happy, the Worcester boys are we.