Jake Libby made a successful return to action after a three week lay-off with a back problem for Worcestershire Seconds who experienced mixed fortunes during their ECB T20 Cup double header with Gloucestershire Seconds at Cheltenham College.
The opening batter, who missed the LV=Insurance County Championship matches with Glamorgan and Leicestershire, played in Game Two and struck 53 off 35 balls.
He hit two sixes and six fours before he was lbw sweeping as Worcestershire totalled 166-5 after choosing to bat.
Libby and Taylor Cornall, 47 off 40 balls, rescued Worcestershire from 27-3, and an unbeaten 20 from Joe Leach lifted the final total to 166-5 after skipper Jack Haynes elected to bat.
Spinner Josh Baker (4-0-27-2) then struck in successive overs to reduce Gloucestershire to 80-3, but they recovered to win by four wickets with seven balls to spare.
Ben Gibbon (3.5-0-40-1), Leach (3-0-37-1), Kashif Ali (3-0-21-1) and Cornall (2-0-21-1) were the other wicket-takers.
Worcestershire triumphed by five runs in Game One, with Matthew Waite hitting a half century and Adam Finch picking up three wickets.
Rapids Captain Brett D’Oliveira opted to bat first, and Worcestershire recovered from 36-3 to post 175-5.
Waite’s 53 off 32 balls contained two sixes and two fours, and he added 91 for the fourth wicket in 9.3 overs with Ed Pollock, whose 39 from 30 deliveries also contained two maximums and two fours.
Gareth Roderick (18 not out off 12 balls) and Cornall (23 not out from 12 deliveries) gave the innings late momentum.
Finch, the batting hero in the Vitality Blast win over Yorkshire Vikings, picked up three of the first four Gloucestershire wickets and ended with 4-0-29-3.
Waite (4-0-32-1) and Baker (3-0-28-1) also chipped in with a wicket apiece, and the task of scoring 16 off the final over from Dillon Pennington proved too great for the home side, who ended on 170-6.
