[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

One-Day Cup, Group A

vs Durham

New Road, Worcester

Worcs innings: The Pears won the toss and elected to bat on a scorching late-July Sunday, but four early wickets looked to make an instant mockery of the decision. The subsequent departure of Rehaan Edavalath for 15 just as the rebuild was getting going left the hosts in a mess at 61-5, and though Jake Libby stuck firm to the crease and anchored the innings superbly, he risked running out of partners as new man Tom Taylor made 25 in the ten overs before he too trudged backed to the pavilion. But 20-year-old Notts loanee Fateh Singh, determined not to die wondering on his Pears debut, came out swinging at above a run a ball and made a superb half-century for the cause before holing out; that shift in momentum allowed Oxfordshire loanee Tom Hinley to chip in some big hits of his own in a cameo of 24. Libby, despite his best efforts, couldn't convert his half-century to a ton as he was the last man to go on 89, and in other circumstances it might have been frustrating to not bat out the overs and leave eight balls unbowled, but 260 all out felt like a better score than we'd had any right to expect two hours earlier.

Durham innings: You don't judge the pitch until both teams have batted on it, and sure enough, with Taylor zipping the ball around corners, a triple-wicket over to open the reply was just what the doctor ordered. A run-out made it 16-4 soon after, and though Durham rebuilt well through Ben McKinney and Scott Borthwick, a spectacular catch at mid-on off Hinley saw off the latter for 33, and no-one else would put up similar resistance. With a maiden Pears wicket for Singh to help the cause, it was Hinley who bulldozed the tail to finish with 5-56 and skittle the visitors for 167.

Worcestershire WIN by ninety-three runs

The Verdict: After the slow train-wreck of the T20 Blast, the early batting collapse felt like more of the same, but it's a testament to the character of Jake Libby and the will to succeed of our on-loan middle-order that they salvaged a score from the chaos. With the ball, Tom Taylor's opening salvo that blew away the top order shouldn't be overlooked, but Tom Hinley stole the show in the last half-hour to deliver victory.