Worcestershire Rapids came back down to earth with a bump on Sunday as Northants Steelbacks inflicted a 100-run defeat on Brett D’Oliveira’s side in the Vitality Blast T20 Central and West group.
Adam Finch led the way with a remarkable spell that saw him take 3-31, while Matthew Waite offered ample support with three wickets himself as the Steelbacks set the Rapids 192 to win.
The chase was made that much harder as the Rapids had to rebuild from 32-4, with Kashif Ali (38) producing the most defiant knock for his team, but a lower collapse saw the home side lose 5-11 as they were bundled out for 91.
Alan Richardson’s side have five days to bounce back with all eyes turning to Friday night where the Bears travel to New Road for a hotly anticipated derby day clash.
A sun-soaked New Road was the venue for Worcestershire Rapids’ first home match in the 2026 Vitality T20 Blast, with the hosts naming an unchanged eleven after opening day win over Leicestershire Foxes.
Tom Taylor and Matthew Waite took the new ball for the Rapids, and despite Chris Lynn threatening to cut loose, his cameo was cut short in the third over when his attempted slog into the legside resulted in a nick behind to Gareth Roderick, having made 15.
Sikandar Raza entered the fray in the fourth over as Brett D’Oliveira continued to shuffle his pack in the wake of Ricardo Vasconcelos stepping through the gears.
Ending the powerplay 60-1, Raza changed ends to allow Usama Mir to enter the fray from the New Road End, as the spin twins looked to find a second breakthrough.
Chances proved hard to come by, however, as David Willey found his groove and began to motor, but Ethan Brookes entering the attack signalled a change in fortune for the home side, as Willey failed to connect with a heave down the ground, picking out D’Oliveria at long-off.
With Willey gone for 46, Mir brought the home side right back into the game when, in the next over, he removed Vasconcelos (34), after a smart catch in the deep by Taylor collected the third Steelbacks wicket.
99-3 at the halfway stage, Finch (3-36) returned and repeated his antics from Friday night with a double wicket burst in the 12th over, first having Louis Kimber caught in the deep by Isaac Mohammed for 14, before the seamer saw off the dangerous Saif Zaib first ball as the batter nicked behind to Roderick.
The momentum had been wrestled back by the home side, with Raza reintroduced with the Rapids on top at 114-5, as overs 13 and 14 cost just 13 runs combined.
It was the returning Waite who grabbed the sixth Steelbacks scalp courtesy of a superb Sikandar Raza catch deep on the legside boundary, as the Zimbabwe captain held onto a steepling high catch to dismiss Broad for 29.
Isaac gave Calvin Harrison a reprieve on 26 when he put one down at long-on in the 18th but made no mistake an over later when he caught Lewis McManus cheaply from the returning Finch.
Having conceded 24 from his first over, Finch battled back valiantly to return figures of 3-12 in a superb spell late on.
Waite (3-40) was rewarded in the last over with two wickets in an identical fashion when both Harrison (30) and Ben Sanderson (2) held out to Taylor at long-on, as an excellent finish with the ball saw the Rapids bowl out Northants for 191.
A nightmare start with the bat piled the pressure on the Rapids, with Isaac and D’Oliveira caught in successive overs as the home side slipped to 23-2.
The visitors tightened their grip on the contest in the fifth over when Adam Hose pulled a James Sales short-ball straight to Harrison at deep square leg as the home side stumbled through the powerplay three wickets down and behind the required rate.
Ethan Brookes was unable to produce any heroics from the middle order as he fell the same fate as his predecessor, this time off a George Scrimshaw delivery, as the hosts lost their fourth wicket for just 34 runs at the start of the seventh over.
Not out at the other end, Kashif Ali was joined by Sikandar Raza, as the Rapids duo set about the rebuild.
Passing fifty in the eighth over, the pair started cautiously, waiting patiently as they looked to time their charge, which came in spurts as they added 45 for the fifth wicket.
Kashif showed glimpses of his destructive best as he muscled the ball into the legside boundary sporadically, whilst Raza did his best to break the shackles in a cameo of 18.
The Zimbabwean’s untimely dismissal just when Worcestershire fans had begun to believe that an improbable comeback was on the cards proved costly, as the Rapids slipped to 79-5 shortly after passing the halfway mark in the chase, but his dismissal to Calvin Harrison spelt the beginning of the end for Worcestershire.
A lower-order collapse saw the Rapids lose five wickets for just 11 runs, as Harrison (4-17) ripped through the tail to condemn the hosts to a heavy 100-run defeat.
Alan Richardson’s side have five days to dust themselves down and bounce back, with a tantalising date with near neighbours the Bears next up at New Road on Friday night.
