Worcestershire 157 for 3 (D'Oliveira 69) beat Leicestershire 156 for 7 (Hill 59, Pennington 2-20) by seven wickets
Brett D'Oliveira improved his career-best T20 score for the second time in the weekend to take Worcestershire to victory over Leicestershire.
D'Oliveira, who made 67 as Worcestershire defeated Durham on Friday evening, scored 69 on this occasion to help his side to a seven-wicket victory with five balls to spare. The result takes Worcestershire into the top four of the North Group with five games to play.
D'Oliveira, playing his 100th T20 match, and Riki Wessels posted an opening stand of 103 in 12.2 overs as they chased Leicestershire's 156. It was Worcestershire's highest stand for any wicket against Leicestershire and all but assured their side of victory.
There are different ways of compiling a T20 innings. The likes of Jason Roy or Jonny Bairstow can destroy an attack, but D'Oliveira isn't like that. He is calm and measured and precise. He may not be the ideal man for a chase of 220 but, set a modest target, he is pretty much perfect. There were no sixes in his innings but, with Wessels taking a slightly more aggressive approach, the pair complemented each other beautifully. Worcestershire achieved this chase with plenty to spare.
The result, Worcestershire's second win of the weekend, marks an impressive comeback. They were thrashed in their two previous games, losing to Yorkshire by 94 runs and to Nottinghamshire by ten wickets, leaving their interim captain, Ben Cox, to praise his team's character.
"We just touched on the character shown in the dressing room," Cos said. "We had two hard losses, so to come back and do what we've done, is huge credit to the whole side.
"We are fourth now, two points off joint top. We are right back in the mix and we are going to take confidence from this big time. To finish the week so well, is credit to everyone in the changing room."
That Leicestershire set any sort of competitive total was largely due to Lewis Hill. After 13 overs, they were 65 for 5 and appeared hopelessly adrift of what might be considered competitive on another excellent surface.
Hill managed only 12 runs from his first 16 balls. But a slog-sweep for six off Daryl Mitchell precipitated a spell where he hit three sixes in four deliveries and scored 47 runs from his next 16 balls. Lewis's assault helped Leicestershire thrash 91 from the final seven overs. His final score of 59 was a career-best effort in this format.
Charlie Morris, the Worcestershire seamer, bore the brunt of the punishment. For the second time in a week, he conceded 54 from his four-over spell including 40 from his final two. One six from Hill, whipped over midwicket, bounced on the roof of the Graeme Hick Pavilion. That is a vast hit.
Leicestershire actually started pretty well, too. Josh Inglis, in particular, looked in terrific touch and helped Scott Steel post 34 from the first four overs. But once they were parted, Dillon Pennington bowling with impressive pace and striking twice in four balls, Leicestershire added just 16 more in the next six overs.
In all, they lost five wickets for 24 runs in seven overs. It was probably the defining passage of play. Rishi Patel, who laboured for 21 balls in scoring 14, endured an especially underwhelming day. The result leaves Leicestershire needing to win all five of their remaining games to have a realistic chance of progressing.
It could have been even worse for them. Had Ed Barnard held on to a straightforward caught-and-bowled chance offered by Louis Kimber, on 1, Leicestershire would have been 61 for 6. As it was, Kimber played nicely in helping Hill add 60 in 5.5 overs to give the side a chance. In truth, however, they may still have been anything up to 30 short of par.
"We lost three wickets in the Powerplay and that hurt us a lot," Paul Nixon, the Leicestershire head coach, said. "We never recovered. We had a period of eight overs where we just kept finding the fielders and not the gaps, where we weren't getting any boundaries, and that hurts you.
"Lewis Hill played a fantastic innings and showed us that quality. But ultimately we were 30 runs short."
It's worth reflecting on that surface for a moment. This match was the third in succession played on the same pitch. But with that pitch being a hybrid (usually made up of around 5% plastic), it retained excellent pace and carry resulting in a surface on which batters could play strokes and fast bowlers see rewards for their labour. In short, it provided the foundation for another entertaining encounter.
"Traditionally, we've played on slow, tacky wickets," Cox said. "And we've had a side that suited that. So it's great that we've shown we can adapt to these sort of wickets with a bit more pace. I'm sure they must be better for fans."
They sure are. Given the fixture congestion in cricket around the world, the use of hybrid surfaces for limited-overs cricket looks a sensible solution.
