Worcestershire achieve record-breaking one-day chase

It was a week of ‘No Results’ and big hundreds amidst heatwaves and thunderstorms. In the South division, Hampshire suffered a couple of defeats but still lead the rest by a point. It could have been three had Joe Weatherly added a couple more runs to his century at Southampton against Kent, who now sit in second place. It was a great week for their all-rounder Joe Denly. Against Glamorgan he combined an unbeaten 150 with a useful 4-56, and finished the week more than 200 runs richer.

However, when it comes to hefty scoring, nobody could hold a candle to Essex opener Varun Chopra. He aggregated 319 from three innings, more than half of them taken from the Somerset attack, including six sixes and nine fours. Paul Stirling also reached three figures for Middlesex, but Glamorgan remain pointless.

Up north, Worcestershire are in pole position after two memorable run chases at New Road. Last weekend, a steady Daryl Mitchell hundred steered them to victory over Lancashire from the penultimate ball but the best of all was saved for two days later. Leicestershire set off at a gallop, four players reaching 70 en route to a county List A record against first-class opposition, 376-4. When Moeen Ali fell in he second over, Worcestershire could have buckled, but they didn’t. Callum Ferguson, drafted in at  the last minute for the departing Aussie Travis Head, saw the opportunity to make an immediate impact. He put on 140 with Joe Clarke, then 88 in ten overs alongside Mitchell and 137 in alliance with Brett D’Oliveira.  The job was almost done when he was finally caught behind for 192, a county List A record. When D’Oliveira and Whitely struck ten more in four balls, they had achieved Worcester’s best ever score, and here were still sixteen balls remaining.

Yorkshire’s top order continued to rack up the runs, too. Tom Kohler-Cadmore made another two half-centuries but Adam Lyth’s 132 not out was the match-winner against Leicestershire. It was a tougher task against Derbyshire in a match restricted by rain to 24 overs a side. Ravi Rampaul had claimed five wickets and the White Roses needed 24 off ten balls. Thanks to a late blitz from young bowler Matt Fisher, they succeeded.

Leicestershire prop up the table despite having four matches in which to grab points. I feel sorry for Mark Cosgrove who made scores of 70, 84, 13 and 52 to no avail. Next week could see a few counties making decisive breaks while Lord’s and Old Trafford will hope for clear weather and bumper crowds expected for the London and Roses derbies.

Team of the Week:

Chopra (Ess), Stirling (Mid), Lyth (Yor), Ferguson (Wor), Cosgrove (Lei), Denly (Ken), Simpson (Mid +), Rampaul (Der), Carter (Not), Porter (Ess), Parkinson (Lan)