Worcestershire Seconds were beaten in their two T20 games with Leicestershire Seconds at New Road in which many of their senior players got in some white ball practice ahead of the NatWest T20 Bast opener with Birmingham Bears on Friday.
They went down by six wickets in the opening game and then lost the second one by 38 runs with a different set of personnel.
It was an opportunity to dust off the cobwebs and refocus the mindset for the short format of the game after the success enjoyed in the Specsavers County Championship.
In Game One, County opener Daryl Mitchell top-scored with 51 off 29 balls with nine boundaries after the home side elected to bat.
Joe Clarke, who kept wicket in this game, opened with him and the pair put on 51 in 4.2 overs before the latter was stumped for 20.
Skipper Joe Leach, batting at number three, made a quickfire 22 off 14 balls with three boundaries.
But, after he was third out at 102 in the 10th over, the innings lost momentum and Worcestershire closed on 168-9.
Charlie Morris and Pat Brown both picked up an early wicket in the Leicestershire reply and George Scrimshaw continued his comeback from a back injury with the impressive figures of 1-21 in four overs.
But Mark Pettini's unbeaten 81 off 51 balls with 10 fours and two sixes saw Leicestershire to victory. He added 58 in seven overs with Ned Eckersley (32) for the third wicket and an unbroken 57 with Matthew Pillans (20 not out).
Eckersley was also amongst the runs in Game Two after Leicestershire opted to bat and added 77 in 6.3 runs for the second over with Cameron Delport (21).
But then both of them fell to George Rhodes and the County spinners picked up seven of the wickets.
Mitchell Santner returned the excellent figures of 2-11 from four overs after the New Zealand all-rounder linked up with the County for a second spell.
But Ben Twohig (2-16 in four) was equally effective and Rhodes ended with three wickets as Leicestershire closed on 144-9.
Santner opened for Worcestershire and hit 28 off 25 balls with two sixes.
But no-one else passed 20 as Worcestershire were bowled out for 106 in 18.1 overs.
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GAME ONE
Worcestershire Seconds
DKH Mitchell c and b RJ Sayer 51
JM Clarke+ st HJ Swindells b CN Ackerman 20
J Leach* c ML Pettini b CS Delport 22
BL D'Oliveira c CN Ackerman b CF Parkinson 13
A Hepburn c ML Pettini b RJ Sayer 16
AO Wiffen c NEJH Eckersley b MW Pillans 7
OE Westbury c NEJH Eckersley b MW Pillans 1
BJ Twohig c CS Delport b GT Griffiths 17
PR Brown not out 7
CAJ Morris run out(GT Griffiths) 9
GLS Scrimshaw not out 0
Extras 5
Total (for 9 wickets) 168 in 20 overs
FOW: 51, 77, 102, 111, 127, 131, 131, 151, 164
Bowling
CF Parkinson 3-0-16-1
GT Griffiths 4-0-39-1
MW Pillans 4-0-26-2
TJ Wells 2-0-19-0
CN Ackerman 2-0-20-1
RJ Sayer 3-0-22-2
WN Fazakerley 1-0-11-0
CS Delport 1-0-11-1
—–
Leicestershire Seconds
CN Ackerman* c DKH Mitchell b CAJ Morris 6
CS Delport c J Leach b PR Brown 5
NEJH Eckersley b GLS Scrimshaw 32
ML Pettini not out 81
TJ Wells c DKH Mitchell b PR Brown 12
MW Pillans not out 20
Extras 13
Total (for 4 wickets) 169 in 18.5 overs
FOW: 7, 23, 81, 112
Bowling
J Leach 3-0-32-0
PR Brown 2.5-0-29-2
CAJ Morris 2-0-19-1
GLS Scrimshaw 4-0-21-1
BL D'Oliveira 3-0-19-0
DKH Mitchell 1-0-11-0
BJ Twohig 2-0-21-0
A Hepburn 1-0-12-0
—–
GAME TWO
Leicestershire Seconds
AM Ali c MJ Santner b EG Barnard 3
CS Delport c OB Cox b GH Rhodes 21
NEJH Eckersley c JD Shantry b GH Rhodes 61
ML Pettini c JD Shantry b BJ Twohig 5
LJ Hill+ c OB Cox b GH Rhodes 9
TJ Wells* b MJ Santner 19
MW Pillans c OB Cox b BJ Twohig 4
CF Parkinson b MJ Santner 7
RJ Sayer not out 1
WN Fazakerley lbw b JD Shantry 2
GT Griffiths not out 0
Extras 12
Total (for 9 wickets) 144 in 20 overs
FOW: 3, 80, 94, 103, 110, 121, 139, 140, 143
Bowling
JC Tongue 3-0-20-0
EG Barnard 2-0-26-1
JD Shantry 2-0-8-1
CAJ Morris 1-0-19-0
MJ Santner 4-0-11-2
GH Rhodes 4-0-38-3
BJ Twohig 4-0-16-2
—–
Worcestershire Seconds
OB Cox*+ b CF Parkinson 0
MJ Santner c and b AM Ali 28
TC Fell c RJ Sayer b GT Griffiths 20
GH Rhodes lbw b RJ Sayer 2
RA Whiteley c ML Pettini b TJ Wells 11
EG Barnard c TJ Wells b CF Parkinson 5
AG Milton c NEJH Eckersley b MW Pillans 10
BJ Twohig b CF Parkinson 12
JD Shantry c and b RJ Sayer 10
JC Tongue c and b GT Griffiths 3
CAJ Morris not out 1
Extras 4
Total (all out) 106 in 18.1 overs
FOW: 0, 22, 38, 61, 67, 69, 85, 93, 103, 106.
Bowling
CF Parkinson 4-0-23-3
GT Griffiths 2.1-0-9-2
MW Pillans 3-0-28-1
RJ Sayer 4-0-17-2
AM Ali 3-0-23-1
TJ Wells 1-0-4-1