Worcestershire Rapids hit back after a challenging week to revitalise their Vitality Blast T20 campaign with a comfortable 36-run win over reigning champions Somerset at New Road.
After a fragmented start, the Rapids had a 58-run stand between Sikandar Raza (46) and Brett D’Oliveira (41*) to thank, with the two batters producing superb individual cameos to propel their side up to an impressive 180 at the halfway stage.
After a nip and tuck start, Worcestershire turned the screw midway through Somerset’s chase, with Usama Mir (3-34) inspiring a collapse of three for three as the visitors wobbled at 87-5.
Matthew Waite starred with another excellent spell, as the home side showed a ruthless edge to contain the reigning champions and ease to a victory that keeps their knockout qualification hopes alive.
The Rapids returned to Blast action 48 hours on from a difficult night at Edgbaston, facing a stern test against the reigning Vitality Blast T20 champions, Somerset.
With Adam Hose leading the side, the skipper announced that there would be one change to the XI with youngster Henry Cullen coming in for spinner Fateh Singh.
Inserted to bat first, opening pair Kashif Ali and Isaac Mohammed threw caution to the wind in a punchy opening stand of 33, which saw Isaac scorch a flurry of early boundaries through the off side.
Kashif had made 10 before he was hurried by a ball that caught the splice of his bat and handed a straightforward catch to mid-on, as the visitors re-asserted some control to restrict the Rapids to just 14 runs from the second half of the powerplay.
47-1, when the fielding restrictions were lifted, disaster struck when Isaac was trapped LBW for a quickfire 34 from 23 balls, but the new pair, Gareth Roderick and Adam Hose, saw their team past fifty midway through the eighth over.
Targeting the legside to superb effect, Roderick whipped two fours and a huge six towards the midwicket boundary as he started to cut loose, taking a liking to Josh Shaw by taking the ninth over for 16.
The Rapids hit the halfway mark 80-2, but the wickets of Roderick (29 from 21) and Hose (six) in successive overs caused a wobble in the Worcestershire camp.
Both batters were caught at long-on, looking to up the ante, leaving the rebuild job in the experienced hands of middle order pair Sikandar Raza and Brett D’Oliveira.
They brought up the home side’s 100 in the 13th over, with D’Oliveira crashing the ball through point and midwicket, before Raza opened up the cow corner region with a lusty slog sweep for four before repeating the same shot three balls later, which was plunged onto the roof of the New Road stand.
The replacement ball was deposited once again by Zimbabwe’s all-rounder, who unleashed on Riley Meredith at the start of the 17th over, registering his fifty partnership with D’Oliveira by slamming a six and a four in consecutive balls.
Keen to keep his foot on the throat, Raza raced to 46 from just 23 balls, but his destructive knock was ended prematurely as he mistimed a cut shot and was caught after plundering five fours and two sixes.
Henry Cullen hurried hard between the wickets to see the Rapids past 150 in the 18th, clearing the ropes with a leg glance for six to end the over before D’Oliveira played an innovative scoop for four to sustain the late Rapids momentum.
A rejuvenated innings was rounded off in style as Worcestershire’s middle-order maestro slammed two more boundaries to end 40 not-out from just 24 balls and propel the hosts to a competitive 180 at the halfway stage.
It was the hosts who enjoyed the better of the powerplay, with Tom Taylor the first to make a breakthrough in the third over when he had the dangerous Will Smeed caught at mid-on for just 15 when Ben Allison held onto a tough catch in the swirling wind.
The bright start continued when the same duo struck for a second time in as many overs to remove the Somerset Captain, when Kohler-Cadmore spooned a simple chance up to Taylor inside the circle, as Allison wheeled away in delight.
42-2 at the end of the power play, it was almost honours even, but a frustrating partnership between James Rew and Tom Banton saw them add 60 for the third wicket.
Usama Mir and Sikandar Raza were deployed by Hose, with a flurry of boundaries keeping the visitors at arm’s length during a slight lull for the hosts that saw chances come at a premium.
However, momentum shifted in a dramatic two-over period, during which the Rapids snagged three wickets for as many runs, reducing Somerset to 87-5 and wresting the match back.
Matthew Waite was the first to get in on the act when he claimed the key scalp of James Rew for 36, courtesy of a clinical catch by Kashif Ali at deep midwicket.
New Road sensed an opportunity and made its loudest roar of the day so far when D’Oliveira, who had bowled an efficient over with the ball, made no mistake under a steepling catch at long-on, after Usama Mir deceived Banton in the flight to end his cameo for 30.
Two balls later, and the hope began to turn to belief for the Rapids when the dangerous Thomas Rew was pinned LBW by Mir for just two, with the Pakistan international producing another fine four-over spell of 3-34 to put the skids under the current Blast holders.
That seismic momentum shift had debilitated the away side’s middle order, and when Kashif took another superb catch to see the back of Daniel Sams, the Rapids were closing in.
110-6 became 117-7 when Matthew Waite accounted for Lewis Goldsworthy, and when Craig Overton clothed one to Allison at cow corner to hand Waite a third in the penultimate over, the all-rounder finished with exceptional figures 3-23.
Allison had time to claim his second wicket of the day when Alfie Ogborne came and went for four, as Worcestershire sealed their first win over Somerset in T20 cricket for 13 years by a comfortable margin of 36 runs.
The victory keeps Worcestershire’s hopes of securing a knockout place alive, as the side now prepares for a first-ever Vitality Blast T20 match-up with Kent Spitfires next Friday.
