Worcestershire U18’s were defeated by six-wickets against Northamptonshire in the U18’s County Championship earlier this week at Kettering, where a lack of second innings runs proved costly.
Having won the toss and elected to bat first, Worcestershire were made to work hard for their first-innings total of 210, where Joe Harrison led the way with an impressive 66 off 91 balls, but lacked sustained partnerships along the way, as the Worcestershire lower-order dragged their side out of real trouble at 143-7.
Tom Odell (24) and Assadullah Azami (37) from number eight and ten respectively, helped Worcestershire scrape past 200, before they could launch an attack of their own with the ball.
It was Azami who carried on his rich vein of form with a superb fifer, recording figures of 17.1-0-61-5, while Josh Leach picked up four wickets for himself as Worcestershire pressed hard for parity in the face of some stubborn Northants batting, guided by a century at the top of the order, as Northants closed their first innings with a 47-run lead.
The stability and platform that the Pears lacked was in the end their undoing, as none of the top six were able to register a score over 30 in a tough spell for batting as the Northants bowlers made headway.
It was number seven, Yusuf Akbar, who came to the fore when his side needed him most, batting with supreme temperament and maturity to make his way to a superb fifty.
He pushed on, into the mid-seventies, but with a next top-score of 25, Worcestershire were always behind the eight ball, eventually dismissed for 181, with a lead of just over 180 to try and defend.
Leach picked up two more second-innings wickets, but they were nothing more than a consolation for his side as Northants eased their way to a six-wicket win in the end.
With a huge County Cup semi-final on the horizon, all eyes now turn to Sunday where the side will face off against Yorkshire for a place in the final.
