Worcestershire Rapids make a winning start to One-Day Cup

Kashif Ali was the star of the Rapids’ batting effort as posted 76 to anchor the innings. A brilliant hat-trick from Liam Trevaskis threatened to derail Worcestershire’s total as he become the first Durham player to achieve the feat in List A cricket. But, Ben Cox added a brisk half-century to propel the Rapids beyond the 300-run mark.

The home side made a bright start in their chase of 319 through a knock of 79 from Graham Clark. But, Josh Baker and Brett D’Oliveria combined with six wickets apiece to dismantle the Durham line-up. Jonathan Bushnell took the game into the dying stages, but the Rapids held their nerve to close out a comfortable win.

Worcestershire coach Alan Richardson said: “We’re delighted. Our performance was strong. We’ve come straight from a red ball block game so to try and get that tempo was always going to be difficult. I think we did well, Brett D’Oliveira and Azhar Ali got us off at a nice pace and gave us impetus. We were pleased with the total, although we thought it was a good wicket. But, I thought we bowled and fielded really well. You get a few more ebbs and flows with a 50-over game than you do with a 20-over. We started well and I thought Kashif Ali played exceptionally well with real purpose. Ben Cox did brilliantly at the end to get us to our total because we thought we were going to be light with five overs to go.

“I thought our spinners were excellent. Durham started their innings very well and Graham Clark put us under a lot of pressure. It showed what a good pitch it was that they could hit through the line and score a lot of boundaries. Josh Baker has not played a lot of white-ball cricket so this is a real opportunity for him. Josh bowled beautifully and got a couple of big wickets. Brett then showed his class and experience in that middle period alongside Matthew Waite. We kept taking wickets and didn’t go for many runs, so it was a really impressive performance.”