Head Coach, Alan Richardson, praised Worcestershire’s all-round performance and said it will provide a massive confidence boost after a superb start to their LV=Insurance County Championship campaign with an eight wicket win over Derbyshire at the Incora County Ground.
Jake Libby’s eighth first class century for Worcestershire and a second wicket partnership of 139 with Azhar Ali (62) ensured they had few alarms chasing down a 192 target.
It was the final part of a superb all-round show with bat and ball which secured 22 points.
Richardson said: “A tricky little chase. As soon as you start getting over 150 and you are close to 200 you think ‘anything could sort of happen.’
“I thought Jake (Libby) applied himself brilliantly well and his and Azhar’s partnership broke the back out of it for us.
“The last thing you want is for them to get a bit of momentum and take some early wickets and we started nice and positively.
“Ed (Pollock) got out quite early but he had given us that little bit of momentum to start off with.
“The wicket got a little bit flatter as the game went on so, as long as the guys applied themselves, which they did brilliantly well, and played positively with some nice intent……. a fantastic performance.”
Richardson was also delighted with the way the Worcestershire attack polished off the final four Derbyshire wickets on the fourth morning to set up the victory chase.
He said: “A magnificent effort from the boys this morning. It was hard work to get those last four wickets but they stuck to their task brilliantly well and kept believing, kept the faith.
“Really pleased for everyone and it’s always nice to start with that win and some good performances to give the guys a bit of confidence.
“We know it’s a long season, another 13 games, a hell of a lot of cricket to be played, and as a start of the season you couldn’t have asked for much more.
“The boys have worked incredibly hard over the winter and they want to see that come to fruition.
“Derbyshire are a really good side. They played some good cricket under Mickey Arthur last year and their side has a lot of depth.
“As long as we keep doing what we do and sticking to our strengths, we will hopefully put in some good performances throughout the season.”
