Warwickshire Bears batter Rob Yates says there’s no time for the Bears to dwell on tonight’s defeat against Worcestershire Rapids as he targets a maiden Vitality Blast victory of the campaign against Northants on Sunday.
Worcestershire secured a six-wicket victory at New Road after the Bears were bowled out for 141 with one ball remaining of their 20 overs, as opener Yates top scored with 45 from 31 balls.
Yates’ opening partner Alex Davies fell to the first ball of the innings, bowled by one that kept slightly low from Tom Taylor, while Sam Hain was the only one of the next four to reach double figures before he was caught off the bowling of Adam Finch.
All-rounder Jordan Thompson took a while to get going but went on to hit 18 off four Finch deliveries before the bowler trapped him LBW with his fifth of the over, as he departed for 35.
The Rapids then knocked them off with seven balls remaining, leaving Yates and his team-mates frustrated with their efforts.
“It’s a disappointing result, 20 runs short, if not maybe a couple more,” Yates said. “We’ve got a game on Sunday now and it’s sort of time to rest up and move on quickly and get some momentum going.
“There’s a lot of places you could look at but I think early wickets never helps, always puts you in the back foot to start. Me and Jordan were going quite nicely for a bit there, I get out. So you never know there, staying for a bit longer and could add a few more on.”
The left-handed opener has been in solid form in 2026 and feels in good touch, but is now targeting contributing towards a Bears’ Blast victory.
“You feel good at the moment. Feel in decent touch on a personal point of view. Like you said, you never want to get out, you always want to do more than whatever you’ve done. Hopefully you can put a match running score in the coming games.
“There’s no time to sort of stew on the results that have been and hopefully we can bounce back in front of a home crowd at Edgbaston. If we can put a string of results together, in these competitions momentum is a huge thing so hopefully we can build that at the right time put a good run together.”
Earlier in the day, Warwickshire Women fell to a 27-run defeat away at Durham.
Bowling first, the Bears restricted the hosts to 140 for five from their 20 overs. Left arm opener Alexa Stonehouse was the pick of the bowlers, taking one for 15 from her four overs, and she also produced a sharp direct hit to run out the dangerous Emily Windsor for 31. Bess Heath’s 61 off 39 balls for Durham proved to be the key innings in the match.
In reply, Warwickshire lost in-form opener Abbey Freeborn in the first over, and continued to lose wickets at regular intervals in their chase. Chloe Brewer (26 off 23) provided some late resistance, but the Bears were dismissed in the 19th over for 113.