Worcestershire U18’s batting prowess came to the fore once again, as they powered past Leicestershire U18s by 42-runs to progress to the quarter-finals of the County Cup.
Elliot Wilson’s side won the toss and elected to bat first, as Flynn Gunston caught the eye, top-scoring with 92 off 96 balls, as his side went on to make 341-6 at the completion of their 50 overs.
In response, Leicestershire fell short, with the Worcestershire bowlers sharing the wickets around, Tom Odell leading the way with 3-61.
It was Gunston who opened the batting and anchored the Worcestershire innings with a composed 92 at the top of the card, as he and Joe Harrison combined to put on 147 for the first wicket, before Harrison fell for 68 in the 24th over.
Gunston batted on diligently and added a further 80 with Yusuf Akbar, before the former was bowled eight-short of a fabulous ton.
Fin Goodman continued his impressive recent form with a fluent 42, while Akbar raised his bat after notching 58 off 62 balls as the young side sped towards an imposing total.
Joe Porter’s cameo of 26 late on propelled Worcestershire to 341-6 from their 50 overs.
Leicestershire’s response was pegged back early on by Josh Leach, who took the first wicket of the innings in the third over.
The Worcestershire seamers combined well to reduce their opponents to 106-4, with Leach taking two-wickets as he finished with figures of 2-24 from ten-overs., while Jeet Varaich and Tom Odell picked up one apiece early on.
Asadullah Azami chipped in with two wickets in the middle overs, as his seven-over spell saw him collect 2-44, with Worcestershire continuing to make inroads.
Leicestershire added 59 for the sixth wicket, as they kept in touch despite losing frequent wickets.
Henry Hawes got the big breakthrough for his team, as he had Macdonald caught for 88, with Leicestershire reduced to 275-8.
Odell returned to take the final two wickets as Worcestershire completed a comfortable 42-run victory in the end, securing qualification to the quarter-final stages of the County Cup, whey will face near rivals, the Bears.
The side now face a short turnaround, as preparations have commenced for a change in format, as the side welcome Shropshire to Kidderminster in a two-day red ball fixture.
