Worcestershire head coach Alan Richardson did not hide his disappointment after his side’s hopes of completing a T20 double over Warwickshire were crushed by a heavy defeat at Edgbaston.
The Rapids were well beaten in Friday night’s Vitality Blast clash (June 26), as a dominant Bears side piled on 224 before Worcestershire’s chase faltered.
A devastating 177-run partnership between Zen Malik (99) and Beau Webster (79) left Richardson’s side on the back foot from the outset – something the head coach admitted proved decisive.
“That is really disappointing,” he said. “For a lot of members and supporters, it’ll be incredibly disappointing, and also for the players as well.”
Richardson pointed to his team’s inability to contain the Bears’ key duo as the turning point.
“We didn’t cope with Zen and Beau to start off with. They put us under a lot of pressure, and we didn’t do the things we should’ve done in terms of shutting them down.”
While Worcestershire did manage to pull things back slightly after the early onslaught, Richardson felt the damage had already been done.
“We showed resilience and came back into it well – 224 is not great at the best of times, but it could have been a lot worse,” he said.
“But the pressure they created early on made it really difficult for us.”
The Rapids never truly threatened in reply, losing wickets regularly as the target slipped further out of reach.
With holders Somerset up next at New Road on Sunday, Richardson is now calling for a swift response from his players.
“We have to keep sticking at it, keep working hard and keep doing the right things,” he said. “It’s a very volatile game, and it can take one innings to turn it round.”
Worcestershire will again be without injured pair Ethan Brookes and Adam Finch as they look to bounce back.
