Ed Barnard downed the Pears at his old New Road home after decisive contributions with both bat and ball – but was quick to praise the team performance in the Demolition Derby.
The all-rounder opened the bowling with Olly Hannon-Dalby – who finished with figures of 5/31 – before he joined Rob Yates at the crease as the pair put on 103 to all but chase down the modest target set by Worcestershire.
Barnard congratulated OHD, who posted his second best List A figures as a Bear, and then complimented the way opening partner Yates saw off the new ball and helped the Bears claim the white-ball bragging rights over their rivals for the third time this season.
Barnard himself, though, made another notable contribution to another victory in the 50-over format, claiming 3/14 and 66 from just 45 deliveries with the bat to help the Bears tie up their fourth straight win in this competition.
“It was easier towards the end, once we got into that position. We knew it was going to be tricky up front with their seam bowlers, especially after the way it nipped around this morning. The way Rob got through that, we knew then we had the game in the bag and we thought we’d try and win it as quickly as we could.
“The overheads helped, there was a bit of rain about and a few clouds. It was a good pitch, they scored 370 on it the other day, we knew it was a good wicket but Oli exploited it so well. He’s a pleasure to bowl with and just to watch him, wheeling away from that end. I was really pleased he got his fifth today.
“Luckily we had the Gloucestershire chase recently, which was similar, so we knew the formula we had to find. We just knew we had to get through those first eight, ten overs where we knew the ball would be dangerous and could get through it without much damage then we’d be in a good position to kick on.”
By his own admission, things haven’t quite gone to plan on the field for Barnard since he swapped New Road for Edgbaston; he was in and out of the T20 Blast side which reached the quarter finals, while he is still finding his feet in the First Division of the County Championship having excelled for a number of years in the second tier.
In the One Day Cup, though, Barnard has been granted opportunities to shine. Opening the bowling and opening the batting, he has repaid that faith invested in him by scoring 274 runs at an average of 91 and claiming nine wickets across these four successes.
“I’ve enjoyed the responsibility,” he added. “I’ve been a bit disappointed with some of my performances in the first half of the season and I don’t feel as though I’ve shown the Bears fans the best of me yet.
“I’m hoping that’s to come. I’m enjoying my cricket at the moment and I feel I’m in a good place with bat and ball so hopefully I can just keep helping us win games of cricket.
“I’m loving it. The lads have been great with me, they’ve made me feel really welcome. Edgbaston is the best place to play, it’s a big reason why I moved and I’m looking forward to being back there this week.
“We’ve got four tough games coming up so we have to take care of those first and make sure we qualify to give ourselves a chance of winning this trophy because I think we have a really good chance of doing it. Then we have four tough games before the end of the season in the Champ and we have to try and finish as high up the table as we can in that and take some performances into that.”
Additional tickets released for first three days of West Indies Test
A small number of tickets have been released for the first three days of our Men’s Test against West Indies this summer (26-30 Juy).
Tickets are limited for these day and are expected to sell quickly. Early Bird tickets for Day Four are still available if purchased before midnight on 31 March.
