WORCESTERSHIRE Rapids suffered a quarter-final exit in the One-Day Cup after losing by four wickets against rivals Warwickshire in a thriller.
A fine century from Jake Libby helped the Rapids reach 286-9 at the end of their 50 overs only for Kai Smith’s fabulous ton to deny the Rapids victory in the penutlimate over of Warwickshire’s reply at Edgbaston.
Rapids captain Libby scored 112 runs off just 115 deliveries only for Warwickshire’s Smith to smash 130 not out off 104 balls as the home side recovered from 77-7 to deny Worcestershire a place in the semi-finals.
Libby said: “We are absolutely gutted up there in the dressing room but I couldn’t be more proud of the boys.
“We’ve had a fantastic competition. It doesn’t feel like it at the moment. We are absolutely devastated but I think you’ve got to take your hat off to Kai Smith.
“It was a fantastic innings. He played really well and we just couldn’t squeeze one more win out of it. I thought we did everything but get the win.
“We came to this competition this year not knowing what, if we are being honest, we were going to do this year.
“There’s been a lot of new faces, a lot of new opportunities for guys, and I think we had 10 List A debuts for the club.
“I’ve got to take my hats off to the lads, We’ve done really well. Watching guys come into play and they are really hungry to play, really hungry for their opportunity.
“I think that’s made a massive difference to us. I would have loved us to have gone onto a semi-final.”
