(44.4/50 ov, T:261) 261/2
Worcs won by 8 wickets (with 32 balls remaining)
Opener joined by Jake Libby in decisive stand as Derbyshire suffer first defeat
Gareth Roderick’s 152 not out was a List A career-best • Getty Images
Worcestershire 261 for 2 (Roderick 152*, Libby 71*) beat Derbyshire 260 (Came 71, Home 6-51) by eight wickets
Derbyshire tasted defeat in the Metro Bank One-Day Cup for the first time this season, as Worcestershire Rapids won by eight wickets at the County Ground.
Gareth Roderick scored 152 from 139 balls and shared an unbroken third-wicket stand of 161 from 153 with skipper Jake Libby who made 71 not out to take the visitors to 261 for 2 and a third Group A victory.
Worcestershire’s 18-year-old fast bowler Jack Home also played a crucial part by taking his best figures of 6 for 51 in only his third senior game to bowl Derbyshire out for 260.
Harry Came scored 71 but the hosts collapsed from 110 for 1 to 192 for 8 before Zak Chappell, with 48 from 33 balls, and Daryn Dupavillon added 63 from 45 balls.
Derbyshire, who had won their previous three games, started well against a Worcestershire attack that was missing six bowlers through injury and their inexperience showed in the first powerplay.
Although Harry Darley’s opening spell contained two maidens, he bowled two no-balls and two wides in his third which cost 14 runs.
Came and Reece shared a double-century opening stand against Middlesex last weekend and they laid the foundations for another big partnership by adding 82 from 92 balls in untroubled fashion. But Reece dragged a full toss from Home into his stumps in the 15th over and the introduction of spin checked Derbyshire’s progress.
Tom Hinley and Fateh Singh bowled tightly in tandem with Hinley taking a sharp return catch to remove Brook Guest before David Lloyd cut him low to point.
The innings started to crumble, literally in the case of Matt Lamb whose bat snapped in half as he pulled Home with the ball lobbing to mid-on.
Samit Patel top edged a pull and Yousaf Bin Naeem also fell to the short ball on his senior debut before Ethan Brookes was rewarded for a tight spell by trapping Came lbw. But Chappell and Dupavillon revived Derbyshire with some clean hitting in the closing overs to carry the hosts to a competitive total.
They plundered 22 off the penultimate over from Darley before Home returned to wrap up the innings and finish with the best List A figures by a Worcestershire bowler for 19 years.
The force was still with Chappell when Worcestershire began their chase and he bowled Ed Pollock off an inside edge in the 5th over. But Roderick was in good touch, stroking nine fours in his 50 which came off 51 balls as he dominated a stand off 84 from 88 balls with Rob Jones.
By contrast, Jones never looked in control and after scoring 17 from 35 balls, he steered Chappell to backward point where Sam Conners took a good, low catch.
Worcestershire’s hopes rested on Roderick and Libby and the pair played positively without taking risks to keep the target within reach. Roderick took three fours from a Conners over and reached his second century in three games from 101 balls.
He brought up the 200 by lofting Patel over wide long-on for six and drove Conners over mid-off to pass his previous highest one-day score of 137 against former club Gloucestershire last year.
Libby had played an equally important role and he reached his 50 from 48 balls with Roderick completing his 150 from 136 balls before Worcestershire cruised home with 32 balls to spare.
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