Worcestershire Head Coach did not shy away from his side’s “incredibly disappointing” performance on Friday night that ended with the Rapids being well beaten by Warwickshire Bears.
After a two-week break from the competition, spirits were high as Worcestershire travelled to Edgbaston that the Rapids could complete a historic T20 double over their nearest rivals and reignite their knockout qualification hopes.
However, a brutal partnership of 177 between Zen Malik (99) and Beau Webster (79) took the game away from the visitors, who never recovered with the ball, set an imposing 225 to win the match.
The loss of regular wickets hurt the Worcestershire pursuit, and Richardson said the showing on the night left a feeling of frustration.
“That is really disappointing. For a lot of members and supporters it’ll be incredibly disappointing and also for the players as well.
“It wasn’t a reflection of how we think we can play our T20 cricket.
“We didn’t cope with Zen and Beau to start off with. They put us under a lot of pressure and we didn’t do the things we should’ve done in terms of shutting them down.
“They put us under pressure and it was hard to cope with.
“We showed resilience and came back into it well – 224 is not great at the best of times, but it could have been a lot worse.
“We came back well but we put ourselves under so much pressure in those first 12 overs that it made it really difficult for us.”
The quest for qualification doesn’t get any easier for Richardson’s side, with current holders Somerset travelling to New Road on Sunday in what is a crunch game for both sides.
Still without the injured Ethan Brookes and Adam Finch, Worcestershire will be searching for a quick remedy that can steer the side back into form in the shorter format.
The Head Coach says his players will continue to stick at it, despite feeling the effects of Friday’s defeat.
“We have to keep sticking at it, keep working hard and keep doing the right things. It’s a very volatile game and it can take one innings to turn it round. That’s what we have got to look at.”
“The boys are hurting, but they will be desperate to come back with a good performance on Sunday.
“It will be a real challenge for us, they have been serial qualifiers and finalists and set a very good standard.
“That will be a really good challenge for us to see where we are at.”
