Ben Stokes endures subdued evening as Durham fail in their defence of 178
Worcestershire 181 for 2 (Libby 78*, D’Oliveira 67*) beat Durham 178 for 8 (Bedingham 44, Morris 3-37) by eight wickets with three balls to spare
Worcestershire held their nerve to secure a much-needed eight-wicket win over Durham at New Road with three balls to spare.
While Cox hit the winning runs, this result was set up by Libby and D’Oliveira. The pair added 145 in 15 overs – comfortably Worcestershire’s highest for the second wicket against Durham – to overhaul what appeared a challenging target on a used wicket and in increasingly poor light.
As it transpired, the wicket – a hybrid also used for the Yorkshire match – played very well. And while neither Libby nor D’Oliveira would ever be described as the biggest of hitters, they marshalled the chase with calm heads and an aggressive Powerplay that earned them 57 runs and ensured the rate never spiralled beyond their control.
Libby, especially, hit the ball in surprising areas with a succession of straight pulls – think of a poor forehand which sails way beyond the base line – and with D’Oliveira ran brilliantly to put the Durham fielders under pressure.
“We’re not the biggest of hitters,” D’Oliveira said afterwards. “But we like to knock it into the gaps and turn those singles into twos and, if you get the odd boundary, you are looking at eight or nine an over.”
Durham may reflect, however, that some aspects of this result were self-inflicted. Not only was D’Oliveira, on 7, reprieved when Ned Eckersley missed a routine stumping chance off Liam Trevaskis, but they conceded 14 runs in wides, byes and no-balls. With Worcestershire, by the same metric, conceding just five, it may well have been a key factor.
Still, this was an impressive performance from a Worcestershire side who have experienced a couple of the heaviest defeats in their T20 history in recent days. The result ensures they can look at the run-in of the group stages with a genuine chance of qualifying for the knock-out rounds. It might even prove a crossroads moment in their season.
George Dobell is a senior correspondent at ESPNcricinfo
Source: ESPN Crickinfo