Wayne Parnell says team success was more important than personal glory after his five wicket haul helped Worcestershire Rapids defeat North Group leaders Notts Outlaws in the Royal London One-Day Cup.
The all-rounder picked up three wickets in an over and returned the excellent figures of 5-24 – his best List A figures in England with his three previous five wicket hauls all achieved in his native South Africa.
But Parnell was more keen to praise his fellow Rapids and Bowling Coach Alan Richardson for the information which he and the County attack put into practice with deadly effect in restricting the Outlaws to 121-9.
He said: “A good day for you? Personally it was nice to get that milestone (of five wickets) but more importantly it was about getting the two points against a team that had won all of their games previously.
“They are a very strong team and we played to our strengths and knocked them over.
“We were fortunate we had one over where we had three wickets and that sort of breaks the back of the opposition and, from there, we were in a position where we could really attack and try and put them on the back foot.
“Then, when they looked like they could build again, Paul Coughlin pulled his hamstring and we just squeezed (the batting) from there.”
Parnell bowled aggressively from around the wicket at the body of the right handers during the over where enjoyed a treble success.
He said: “We’ve discussed certain things against certain batters and against Notts every single plan we discussed prior to the game worked so credit to Richo (Alan Richardson) for giving us those plans.
“Obviously for me, not having played against many of these guys before, it was just about trying to stick to that plan and it went my way.”
Worcestershire lost five wickets reaching their modest total, two from run outs, but an unbeaten 48 from Tom Fell saw the Rapids across the finishing line.
Parnell said: “With those sort of totals, you don’t know how to approach it. Do you go hard in the first 10 overs or just play it through?
“Obviously losing a couple of wickets after the first 10 overs does get the nerves up a little bit but we bat all the way to number nine so we can pretty much chase anything.
“For Felly, to get 50 in the previous game and get the not out and take us over the line against Notts will do his confidence the world of good.”
Parnell admits it will be a case of delving into the record books to find out if he has taken three wickets in an over before.
He said: “I’m not sure. I’ve played quite a few games. You will have to check that for me!”
