[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

One-Day Cup, Group A

vs Kent

New Road, Worcester

Kent innings: The Pears won the toss and put Kent in to bat on a somewhat gloomy Wednesday with rain ever threatening. Early inroads came by the fourth delivery as Tommy Sturgess sent down a full medium-pace outswinger that didn't do quite as much as Marcus O'Riordan was expecting, the opener's devil-may-care drive arcing round the ball and chopping it onto the stumps for 4; left-armer Hishaam Khan then strangled Beyers Swanepoel down the leg-side for 10 to reduce the visitors to 18-2 before a short rain break. Upon resumption of an innings now shortened to forty-eight overs, man of the hour Jack Home got to work in the middle overs with the vital wickets of Joey Evison, Jack Leaning and Harry Finch leaving Kent 70-5 only a third of the way through the innings, but after Tom Hinley bowled Jaydn Denly through the gate for 26, a tenacious stand between half-centurions Charlie Stobo and Grant Stewart helped pushed the visitors up to a competitive score before Fateh Singh mopped up the tail to leave them 259 all out.

Worcs innings: With Duckworth-Lewis reducing the target by one run, Worcestershire began with highly selective bursts of aggression, playing each ball on its merits lest an early collapse should hobble the chase; still, Ed Pollock and Gareth Roderick departed for 21 and 33 respectively. As Kent turned the screw with some tight and accurate fast bowling, Jake Libby and Rob Jones dug in all the more carefully, preserving wickets and reaching just 96-2 by the halfway point. Just when it seemed like slow and steady might well win the race, Jones followed up his fifty by lobbing up a return catch for Stewart on 57, and the door was open for Kent to see off Ethan Brookes for 15 and Rehaan Edavalath for 6 after brief cameos. At 200-5, needing 59 off 44, it still seemed Worcestershire's game as long as Libby - completing his fifty and wheeling out an array of ramp shots never before seen from the Cornishman - remained at the crease, but having whittled it down to less than a run a ball from the last 27, he promptly ran himself out for 75 looking for a two that was never on. The next over, Singh holed out for 20 with 21 still needed from 19 balls, and suddenly it was the southerners with the momentum. But Worcestershire's campaign has been built on youngsters and underdogs, and Hinley and Khan barely broke a sweat as they polished off the runs with an over to spare.

Worcestershire WIN by three wickets

The Verdict: It seems impossible there could ever be any one-day encounter between these two counties that doesn't end in cat-and-mouse drama, so often has it occurred in recent years. But once again, the Pears showed the resilience they habitually lacked during the Blast to get themselves over the line and maintain a competitive position within the group, though the campaign from here will hinge on the matches to come against fellow table-toppers Somerset and Hampshire.