Worcestershire 2nd XI suffered an agonising five-run defeat against Glamorgan on Wednesday afternoon as the 2nd XI Central Group T20 action continued in Newport.
Chasing 158 to win, Rehaan Edavalath top scored for the Rapids with 28, as lots of players made starts but failed to kick on, with Dan Lategan (20) and Gennaro Reddy (27) chipping in.
Trialist George O’Connor helped himself to two wickets during the first innings, but it was Conner Haddow (4-19) who returned the best figures with the ball as Glamorgan held on for a dramatic win.
A changed 2nd XI side travelled to Wales looking to avenge recent defeats to Northants and Somerset, with senior players Dan Lategan, Jake Libby and Ben Allison all featuring in the final eleven.
Worcestershire’s attack bowled cohesively to chip away at Glamorgan’s batting card throughout the innings, eventually restricting the hosts to 157-6.
Allison (0-37) and Harry Darley (0-28) went wicketless during their respective spells, whilst Libby (0-14) turned his arm with the pitch looking to suit pace off.
Spinner Conner Haddow was the star of the show with the ball for the Rapids however, collecting the wickets of Horton (32) and Root (40), either side of O’Connor snagging two for himself, as Glamorgan had a mid-innings wobble at 80-4.
Haddow returned to remove Nicholls and Byrom, as the home side edged their way up to a score in excess of 150.
Chasing 158 to win, a dangerous opening combination of Lategan and Henry Cullen made their way to the middle at the top for the Rapids, unable to fire some early warning shots as Cullen was bowled in the first over.
Lategan added a quickfire 20, with a huge six over midwicket, but when he too was bowled, Libby joined Reddy for the rebuild.
Libby (14) batted conservatively, whilst his partner took the lead in assertive style, belting three boundaries as he raced to 27 from just 20 balls, before his cameo was ended before it really got going as he pulled up injured trying to run a single and was forced to retire hurt with his side 74-4.
Skipper Edavalath took his team past 100 in the 14th over but was unable to really cut loose as he lost Seth Essenhigh (12 off six balls), as the Glamorgan bowlers tied the Rapids down in a tricky middle period of the innings.
At 121-5, shortly after the Captain’s wicket had fallen, Ben Allison set about changing the tempo, with Worcestershire’s number seven scoring a swift 21 off 16 balls, before Jack Home (18 off 11) tried his upmost to get his side over the line with a late flurry of boundaries, but his efforts were in vein as Alexei Kervezee’s side slipped to defeat by five runs.
