Worcestershire all-rounder Ethan Brookes was delighted with his side’s “near complete” performance in their resounding six-wicket win over Durham.
After losing consecutive matches in the lead up, the Rapids hit back, restricting their opponents to 156 in the first innings, before Brookes starred with a brutal 51 off 24 balls to spearhead a superbly tempered chase.
On the way into the game, Brookes was delighted his side corrected their areas of focus after inconsistency had dominated the early stages of the campaign.
“We highlighted a few areas that we weren’t happy with in the field. Think our energy was a bit slack in first five overs, and then that changed.
“I think that that obviously showed in our bowling. Everyone bowled really well, bowling in partnerships, then to keep them to keep them to what we did, to 156, I think that was a really good effort.”
Brookes, was particularly impressed with the fearless nature of 17-year-old starlet Isaac Mohammed, who blew the chase apart with a stunning 32 off 15 balls.
“Well, we know the pitch we plays to a par of around 160/170, and then you watch Isaac, first game as a 17 year old coming in, he showed his pure class. He made that run chase easy for us with a great start, fluid with ball striking and I think everyone else has seen what a talent he is.
Despite anchoring the chase, Brookes said he was frustrated not to see his team over the line, after doing the hard work to put the Rapids within touching distance.
‘My dad always says you need to get a red inker to win the game and I didn’t win the game. So when I’m batting, I’ve always got that on my shoulder trying to listen to my dad and win the game and get a red inker was all on my mind.
“I hit the first one six against Potts and then Hosey said, break the back of the chase, so I was trying to score them as quickly as possible. And I felt like it was good matchup, to be honest. So I took it on.”
