Worcestershire Rapids fell to a disappointing defeat against Leicestershire on Sunday afternoon, as the Rapids Vitality Blast qualification hopes took a dent.
Gareth Roderick continued to impress having been promoted to number three, with his 49 the stand-out score in the away side’s total of 150-8.
In reply, Worcestershire’s bowlers struggled to build pressure defending their modest total, as the Foxes eased home by six-wickets in the end.
The defeat leaves Worcestershire two-wins adrift of the chasing pack in the North group, with a few days to prepare for the visit of Durham to Visit Worcestershire New Road, on Wednesday evening.
With Captain Brett D’Oliveira absent through injury, vice-captain Adam Hose won the toss and opted to bat first on a sun-soaked pitch, announcing the one change to the side saw Tom Hinley come in for the injured D’Oliveira.
Ed Pollock started with a bang, hitting consecutive sixes in the game’s first over, as he cleared the leg-side boundary with ease. After starting in such promising fashion, the opener was visibly disappointed when he was run-out at the start of the second over, after a mix-up with partner, Jake Libby.
Promoted up the order to number three, Gareth Roderick played a sublime hand, striking the ball to all parts of the ground in an innings that started in fast fashion.
Jake Libby (6) was well-caught by Rehan Ahmed at mid-on, before Roderick kicked on and blasted a career-best T20 score of 49 off 29 balls, putting his side in control after the evenly matched opening exchanges.
Roderick’s rapid charge was brought to an end when he was out LBW, with his eye-catching innings leaving the Rapids 87-3 in the 10th over.
Adam Hose was the next batter to depart, after working hard to get himself in and set, when he failed to connect with a lofted drive and was caught on the edge of the 30-yard circle.
With the home side’s spin bowlers beginning to slow the Rapids batters and the run-rate plateauing, the pressure soon told as Worcestershire next three batters departed in quick succession.
The Rapids fell from 117-5 to 118-7, as Ethan Brookes (12), Ben Dwarshuis and Tom Hinley all lost their wickets in a damaging period for the visitors.
Matthew Waite provided some resistance, as his stubborn innings of 13 helped stem the flow of wickets, before Tom Taylor’s plucky 20 not-out dragged the Rapids up to 150-8 at the completion of their 20 overs, providing a score with some substance to defend.
On a friendly surface and tasked with containing runs on a quick outfield, the visitors search for early wickets was an unsuccessful one, as their opponents scored quickly.
That was until the sixth over of the reply, when Ben Dwarshuis had Sol Budinger caught behind by Henry Cullen, who was keeping-wicket in place of Roderick.
Hose, continued to rotate his seven bowlers, but the Leicestershire batters continued their steady progress in pursuit of 151 required for victory. A second Rapids wasn’t far away however, as Fateh Singh (1-26) had Rishi Patel caught out by Tom Hinley out in the deep.
At 68-2, the Foxes were in control of the contest and when Shan Masood partnered Rehan Ahmed to add 39 for the third wicket, the momentum was hard to stop for the Rapids bowlers.
Matthew Waite (1-12) and Tom Hinley grabbed a wicket apiece in the closing stages, but the visitors were unable to prevent their opponents completing the chase in 18th over, winning by six-wickets in the end.
