Warwickshire’s young guns pulled off a sensational run-chase as the Bears 2nd XI beat their Worcestershire counterparts by three-wickets in a real thriller at Royal Grammar School, Worcester.
Second XI coach Tony Frost admitted he was “proud” of his young team after an impressive collective effort saw them chase down a target of 291 in 66 overs with three balls to spare.
Umeed and Banks put down the ideal foundation so that at tea we were exactly where we wanted to be. Then the rest of the guys all contributed and, in the end, it was effectively a Twenty20 chase for around 110 and the lads did it spot on.
Tony Frost
After Worcestershire declared their second innings at 196 for two just before lunch, leaving the Bears two sessions to bat, Andy Umeed (72) and Liam Banks (66) gave the pursuit the perfect start with an opening stand of 139.
After they were parted, and Ateeq Javid fell for a quickfire 16, the Bears were 165 for three but the chase was put back on track by a succession of important contributions. Sam Hain made 35, Aaron Thomason 37 and George Panayi 24 before Mark Adair’s unbeaten 27 saw the job through to completion.
“It was a fantastic collective effort from the lads,” Frost said. “At lunch we sat down and spoke about how we wanted to chase down the target and they did it pretty much to perfect.
“Umeed and Banks put down the ideal foundation so that at tea we were exactly where we wanted to be. Then the rest of the guys all contributed and, in the end, it was effectively a Twenty20 chase for around 110 and the lads did it spot on.
“I’m proud of them. It was a really well-judged chase and a very good effort.”
The thrilling win rounded off a good three days for the Bears in Worcester. In the first innings, Ian Westwood proved his form and return to fitness after a broken foot with a half-century before leaving the game to join up with the senior squad for the Specsavers County Championship match against Surrey at The Oval starting tomorrow.
