Worcestershire Rapids defeated Yorkshire Vikings in a thrilling Vitality Blast match at New Road because of Adam Finch’s three sixes in the last over from Matthew Fisher. The victory was by two wickets.
To give the Rapids their second victory in as many days, the pace bowler easily dispatched the 19 required from the last over.
Fisher’s opening delivery from Finch was deposited over the mid-on boundary, setting the tone for the celebrations, which got out of hand as the fourth and fifth deliveries also sailed over the ropes.
With one ball remaining, the Rapids managed to cross the finish line as the 22-year-old finished with 30 not out off just 10 deliveries. At 145 for 7 in the 18th over, he entered the game and scored all but one of the final 31 runs needed to pull off an incredible comeback victory.
It indicates that Yorkshire is yet to record its first victory of the year and that it has been 11 games since their previous victory in all of cricket, which occurred in August of last year.
When playing for the Vikings for the first time, David Wiese displayed all of his ball-handling expertise and appeared to have led his team to victory.
While the 38-year-old, who is currently representing Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL, hit a quickfire 15, it was his bowling that confounded the home team. He successfully changed up his pace and line to end with 3 for 18 from four overs, but then Finch launched a stunning attack.
With Pat Brown taking three wickets in his final two overs to finish with 3 for 28, the Vikings were reduced to 175 for 9 after choosing to bat.
In 11 of the Rapids’ overs, spin was used, with Michael Bracewell and Usama Mir bowling closely and Brett D’Oliveira taking two more wickets after going 3 for 28 against the Steelbacks.
The Rapids made one adjustment to the lineup from the team that defeated the Steelbacks on the road to start the competition, replacing fellow fast bowler Mitchell Stanley with Dillon Pennington.
Shan Masood, the captain of Yorkshire, chose to bat, but his team was in trouble after Pennington had a wicket in each of his first two overs.
Adam Lyth’s inaccurate draw lobbed directly into the hands of the midfielder after Dawid Malan directed the initial delivery he faced straight to goalkeeper Ben Cox. It reminded me of Pennington’s thunderous 4 for 0 new ball burst from two years ago during a Blast match at Headingley.
Masood and Jonny Tattersall attempted to rebuild the innings over the span of a 47-run partnership, but both fell in consecutive overs from D’Oliveira. When Masood slog swept to deep mid wicket, the leg spinner spotted Tattersall hole out and pouched at short fine leg sweeping at him.
The scoring rate was kept in control during the middle overs by the spin trio of Mir, Bracewell, and D’Oliveira until Jordan Thompson hit three consecutive sixes off the latter. In just 18 balls, he sped to 36 before trying another massive shot at Bracewell and missing a straightforward chance to backward point.
Wiese made a stunning entrance by hitting a flat six off Finch over extra cover, but in the same over, Ben Mike and the former Sussex star both lofted Brown straight to deep mid wicket.
With 31 runs coming from the 19th and 20th overs, several big hits from Dom Bess and Matthew Revis, including two sixes off Finch, gave the Vikings innings a late boost.
Prior to being run out in the final over by Brown, who then bowled Jafer Chohan after he backed away to the penultimate delivery, Revis had top-scored with 42 from 31 balls.
A double breakthrough from Fisher gave the Vikings a boost as the Rapids innings got underway. Bracewell pursued a wide delivery and was caught behind, and D’Oliveira misjudged a pull and died just inside the boundary.
In the final over of the powerplay, Adam Hose, who had the highest total of 61 points against the Steelbacks, got into his stride immediately and hit Thompson for three fours. The 50 stand was reached in 32 balls, and Jack Haynes, who also appeared to be in fine form, on and off drove Revis to the boundary.
After adding 78 runs, Thompson ended the partnership by holding onto a superb return catch away to left to bring Hose into the picture. When Chohan’s following pitch failed to clear deep mid-wicket, Haynes was removed from the game.
Ben Cox hit 26 off 14 balls with a club before turning Revis straight to deep square leg and Ed Pollock targeted a legside smash before being dismissed by Wiese.
The Rapids had every chance of winning when Kashif Ali was caught at cover off Thompson, but Finch then went into overdrive to seal the deal.