Several Worcestershire Rapids players are closing in on personal T20 milestones as they prepare for tonight’s Vitality Blast encounter with Derbyshire Falcons at the Incora County Ground (7pm start).
Rapids Captain Ben Cox’s top score of 36 against Lancashire Lightning at Emirates Old Trafford means he needs only 41 more runs to reach 2,000 in the short format of the game.
Spinner Ish Sodhi’s impressive return of 1-24 against the Lightning has left the New Zealander only two away from a double century of T20 wickets in his career.
The County’s other overseas player in Australian paceman Ben Dwarhuis needs three more wickets to complete a century after his 2-30 versus Lancashire.
Daryl Mitchell remains only one wicket away from becoming the first Worcestershire player to take 100 T20 scalps.
Regarding the Lightning encounter, Cox said: “The average score at Old Trafford is 158 and, with a short boundary, we thought we were in the game.
“But Rob Jones (49 not out) played a match-winning knock there in the end, considering everyone else struggled to find the middle of the bat all game. Sometimes you have to hold your hands up.
“They were 50-1 in the power play, but they could have been 40-4. They were dropping either side of us and dropping over mid-on and mid-off.
“When we batted, Brett D’Oliveira absolutely melted one to cover when he got out. The momentum can build if that goes either side, but it felt like we were a bit jittery and never got going.
“Now we have to look to put in a good performance at Derby and take two points back to New Road.
“They have a talented squad, and conditions will probably not be too dissimilar to Thursday night. We have got to adapt and take the game deeper.”
