Worcestershire U18s travelled to Nottingham Sports Club on Sunday with high hopes, as they were hosted by Nottinghamshire in a double-header T20 friendly.
Head Coach, Elliot Wilson, selected a strong 12-man squad, as another opportunity awaited the aspiring Pears youngsters.
Worcestershire won the toss in the opening game of the day and elected to bat first, getting off to a flying start as the opening pair of Fin Goodman and Joe Harrison put on 89 for the first wicket.
Their respective contributions of 46 off 27 (Goodman) and 53 off 35 (Harrison) laid the platform for the visitors, as Joe Porter’s 21 ball 36 was the next best score, as runs accumulated in rapid time.
Other contributions along the way took Worcestershire took a liking to the hosts bowling on their way to an impressive total of 184-4.
In reply, the bowlers combined effectively to reduce the hosts to 158-8, securing a 26-run victory.
Ben Jones, (2-38) and Josh Leach, (2-22), were the most fruitful bowlers, whilst Ajarn Barard, Tom Odell and Bhrijesh Parmar all chipped in with a wicket apiece.
It was a contrasting scenario in the second game, later on in the day however, as it was Nottinghamshire who batted first, making the young Rapids bowlers pay at any opportunity.
After the 20 first overs were complete, Worcestershire had a steep chase on their hands, requiring 218 to win.
No bowler was able to settle in a challenging stint in the field, as the five wickets shared between the bowlers didn’t stop the energised batters.
Barard, Leach, Odell, Jones and Jeet Variach all claimed a wicket each as the bowlers showed good fight throughout.
In reply, Joe Harrison (53 off 39) and Toby Cox (63 off 45) did the bulk of the work as the away side attempted to start strong, but with only one other batter making double figures, the chase fell away without any real threat.
The visitors finished on 154-9, eventually falling 59 runs short of their target, but all of the players gaining valuable experience and time in the middle against a strong Nottinghamshire outfit.
Head Coach, Elliot Wilson, was pleased with his side’s efforts.
“Game one was dominated by our batting, led by our opening batters, Joe Harrison and Fin Goodman, who played very well early on and scored runs at a really good rate.
“They played some fantastic shots that made it exciting to watch, but we also caught and fielded pretty well afternoon which helped us.
“Ben Jones, troubled some batters with his pace on his first game of the year, which is brilliant to see also.
“In the second game, we were never really in it or at the required rate, which is hard as it is in T20 cricket when you are chasing over 200.”
The team are back in action tomorrow, at Bromsgrove in another T20 double header fixture, and the travelling squad is as follows:
- Seth Essenhigh +*
- Joe Harrison
- Fin Goodman
- Toby Cox
- Alfie Higgins
- Joe Porter +
- Fin Jones
- Josh Leach
- Lucian Brockman
- Ollie Smith
- Assadullah Azami
- Jeet Varaich
