WORCESTERSHIRE Rapids took an impressive six-wicket home win over Leicestershire Foxes to keep their quarter-final qualification hopes alive.
Anchored by a magnificent unbeaten 56 from Ethan Brookes, Rapids timed their pursuit to perfection as the all-rounder hit five sixes and four boundaries in 28 balls to seal the victory with 13 deliveries to spare.
The day started with some strong combination from Worcestershire's bowlers as the Foxes took to the crease first.
Tom Taylor took an impressive 3-25 in a strong spell that saw him remove both of the visitor's openers inside two overs.
Foxes were reduced to 5-2, and when Rehan Ahmed was dismissed for 32, they found themselves at 59-4 inside eight overs.
However former Worcestershire wicketkeeper Ben Cox pulled his side back into it, hitting a strong 70 not-out off 44 balls, to give his side a competitive total.
His partnerships with Louis Kimber and Tom Scriven provided some stability for the visitors, but the Rapids bowlers did well to keep their nerve at the death, with Ben Dwarshuis, Khurram Shahzad and Adam Finch each picking up a wicket.
Chasing 174, Worcestershire responded clinically with the bat.
Their chase was set up by a positive start from Isaac Mohammed and Brett D'Oliveira, who added 50 for the first wicket inside of the power-play.
Both openers departed in quick succession but Gareth Roderick's 26 from 13 kept the tempo up and maintained the host's control on the match.
Leicestershire did get a brief glimmer of hope when Kashif Ali fell for 16 in the 15th over, but Ethan Brookes and Henry Cullen quickly stamped it out, and saw the side to a six-wicket victory.
The result keeps the side's quarter final hopes alive, coming off the back of a 23-run derby-day defeat to Bears.
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Speaking after the game, Brookes said: "We knew coming into this one we had to deliver, not just a performance, but a result.
"To come out and chase that total the way we did, especially in front of our own crowd, was really satisfying."
With the job not done, Brookes feels the side is reaching their peak at just the right point.
"It's knockout cricket isn't it? One game at a time, backs to the wall and everything to play for," he said.
"We’ve given ourselves a shot, and that’s all you can ask. We’ve worked hard as a group to be in this position.
"The lads are buzzing for Thursday, home crowd, big stakes. It doesn’t get better than that."
Next time out in the final round of fixtures, Worcestershire will host Notts Outlaws on Thursday, July 17.
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