CRICKET - Worcestershire Rapids romp to Durham victory to maintain perfect start in One-Day Cup - The Worcester Observer
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CRICKET - Worcestershire Rapids romp to Durham victory to maintain perfect start in One-Day Cup

Aaron Sutcliffe 31st Jul, 2024 Updated: 31st Jul, 2024   0

JAKE Libby starred as Worcestershire Rapids produced an impressive recovery to beat Durham by 93 runs in the Royal London One-Day Cup.

Libby came to the crease with the Rapids in trouble on 61-5 and top scored with 89 to propel Worcestershire to 260 all out at New Road.

However, Tom Taylor stunned Durham by taking three first-over wickets while Tom Hinley claimed a five-wicket haul as the Rapids bowled out Durham for just 167 in 33.3 overs.

After winning the toss and deciding to bat, Worcestershire slipped to 16-3 as Gareth Roderick (2), Ed Pollock (2) and Rob Jones (1) all fell cheaply inside the first six overs.

And after James Minto (2-40) accounted for both Ethan Brookes (11) and Rehaan Edavalath (15), the Rapids needed a big contribution from their middle order batters.

Libby (89) steadied the ship as the home side passed a century of runs before Jonathan Bushnell (1-59) trapped Tom Taylor (25) LBW.




An impressive 89-run seventh-wicket stand between Libby and debutant Fateh Singh (60) further boosted the Rapids total before the latter succumbed to the bowling of Paul Coughlin (3-32).

Hinley (24) added some useful runs in his 15-ball innings as the Rapids recovered to 260 all out.


In reply, Worcestershire made a remarkable start with the ball and left Durham in huge trouble on 1-3 at the end of the first over.

Taylor (3-14) had Alex Lees (0), Bas de Leede (0) and Colin Ackermann (0) all caught for ducks in a stunning first-over spell as the Rapids bowler just missed out on a hat-trick.

And Libby then ran out Michael Jones (5) to leave Durham on 16-4 in the sixth over.

Durham opener Ben McKinney (80) combined well with Scott Borthwick (33) before the latter fell to Hinley (5-56) which sparked another collapse.

Hinley ripped through Durham’s middle order, removing Bushnell (3), Haydon Mustard (4) and Coughlin (6) for the addition of just 31 runs.

Debutant Singh (1-22) eventually removed McKinney before Hinley took the wicket of James Minto (7) as the Rapids romped to a 93-run victory.

Worcestershire continue their One-Day Cup campaign against Derbyshire on Friday, August 2 with the game to begin at 11am at the County Ground in Derby.