Michael Jones’s brilliant cameo aided Durham’s victory over the Worcestershire Rapids by 22 runs in the Vitality Blast.
At the Seat Unique Riverside, Jones blasted 39 off of 17 balls to lead Durham to a massive total of 190 for 5. The Scottish international did this by taking advantage of a solid foundation laid by Ollie Robinson, who struck 41.
Despite an outstanding 45 from Kashif Ali to lead the visitors in their chase, the Durham bowlers, led by Ben Raine, bowled well enough to ensure that the Rapids were not successful.
After losing their past six games in the competition, the Rapids will have a difficult time making it to the quarterfinals, while Durham is currently well-positioned to do so for the first time since 2018.
The hosts won the toss and elected to bat first. Graham Clark opened the innings brilliantly, slicing one between the covers for four runs. After that, captain Alex Lees hit the first six of the evening when he drove a ball from Josh Cobb over the long-on boundary.
After a rough start, the Rapids rallied when Lees and Clark left for 22 and 24, respectively.
The big Chester-le-Street pitch was advantageous to Ollie Robinson and Colin Ackermann as the Rapids limited the boundary count during the middle overs.
Brett D’Oliveira benefited from Ackermann’s run-scoring pressure when the Durham player mistimed a slog sweep and was caught on the boundary for 19.
As Durham hit 100, Robinson began to clock, smashing a D’Oliveira ball for six. But, the captain of the Rapids retaliated by bowling Ashton Turner for 20.
After that, Robinson hit two sixes off a Brookes over, but he went for one too many, skiing one too far on for 41.
The hosts were still on 190 for 5, but it didn’t stop Jones from smashing one out of the park and hitting 24 from the last over to end undefeated on 39.
The visitors had a difficult task ahead of them in chasing 191, and they had a slow start, scoring only 10 runs in the first two overs.
After that, D’Oliveira was dismissed by Bas de Leede, who got the Rapids captain to give him an edge, and Robinson was there to collect the catch behind the stumps.
Alongside Cobb, Ali attempted to get his team moving and they began to put some distance between them and the objective. Earlier this week, Ali led his team to an excellent victory at this location in the County Championship.
Ali then launched a Sowter ball into the stands after smashing one into the ground for six.
But Raine took the crucial wicket of Ali for forty-five, and Durham’s leading wicket taker bowled the commanding opening.
The dangerous Adam Hose was then dismissed for just seven by the hosts after he was beautifully collected by Ackermann off the bowling of Sowter on the boundary.
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When the Rapids were still hanging on by a thread, Sowter dropped the seasoned Cobb at number 25, but the leg-spinner recovered to take out Brookes.
After Cobb was bowled by Ben Dwarshuis for 39, Gareth Roderick smashed a six over the legside boundary to give his team a chance, but he was bowled by Raine for 18 and the visitors were left staring loss in the face.
The hosts won by 22 runs thanks to late wickets taken by Dwarshuis, de Leede, and Raine.
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