Kashif Ali continued his fine form against Durham but it was not enough to save Worcestershire Rapids from a 22 run defeat in a Vitality Blast encounter at the Seat Unique Riverside.
Two half centuries from Kashif had played a key role in Worcestershire winning the Vitality County Championship match between the two sides earlier in the week on the same ground.
Kashif was again in excellent touch in the opener’s role making 45 off just 25 balls.
His efforts gave Worcestershire hope of chasing down 191, an above average score on a wicket aiding the spinners and where it was beneficial to take the pace off the ball.
But only Josh Cobb of the other batters made a significant contribution and several players holed out in the deep on the leg side as the run rate increased.
Worcestershire were finally bowled out for 168 in the final over.
Worcestershire Club captain, Brett D’Oliveira, returned to the side after missing the Vitality County Championship games against Surrey and Durham with his shoulder problem.
Pace bowler, Adam Finch, was also available after suffering a leg injury against Surrey.
Durham skipper, Alex Lees, won the toss and opted to bat first and he and Graham Clark put on 43 before Tom Taylor made the first breakthrough.
Taylor was rewarded for an excellent second over when Lees (22) fell to a fine catch low down at deep mid-wicket by Ethan Brookes.
The last ball of the powerplay also brought reward for Adam Finch as Clark (24) chipped a catch to Taylor at mid off at 54-2.
D’Oliveira brought himself into the attack and accounted for Colin Ackermann (19) who attempted a slog sweep but only picked out Brookes at deep mid wicket.
Durham reached 80-3 by the 10 over half-way point but taking the pace of the ball slowed the rate through D’Oliveira and fellow spinner Hayden Walsh.
D’Oliveira was on the receiving end of a couple of big hits but had his revenge when bowling Ashton Turner (20) with a googly.
Walsh ended his spell after conceding only 25 runs in his four overs.
Brookes came back into the attack and was rewarded as Robinson (41) picked out Adam Hose at long off a slower ball on after previously hitting two straight sixes.
But some late hitting by Michael Jones, including three sixes in the final over, lifted the final total to 190-5.
When Worcestershire batted, D’Oliveira looked in good touch with three fours on the off side, all off spinner Callum Parkinson.
But after a quickfire 15 he was undone by a ball from Bas de Leede which bounced and left him and was caught behind.
Kashif struck the first maximum of the innings over long off at de Leede’s expense and successive fours off ex Worcestershire left armer, Ben Dwarshuis.
Cobb also looked in good touch and he greeted Nathan Sowter with a powerful drive straight back down the ground.
Kashif then smashed the spinner over long off and mid wicket for sixes in an over costing 15 runs.
But, after making 45 off just 25 balls, he was bowled through the gate by Ben Raine at 84-2 in the 10th over.
Adam Hose (7) holed out on the mid wicket boundary off Sowter after Colin Ackermann threw the ball back inside the boundary to complete the catch.
Brookes (9) attempted to hit Sowther inside out and sliced a catch on the off side to Ashton Turner and Cobb, having made an aggressive 39 off 29 balls, was bowled by Dwarshuis going for a big hit as the run rate increased.
Gareth Roderick (18 off 12 balls) flicked Ben Raine backward of square for a maximum but was caught at deep mid wicket in the same over.
Waite (11) departed in the same manner off Bas de Leede after striking the same bowler for a six over long off and Taylor (6) went in similar fashion against Raine.
In another replica dismissal, Walsh (2) fell in the final over from Dwarshuis and the game ended when Finch (4) was caught behind with one ball remaining.
Worcestershire Head Coach, Alan Richardson, said: “I don’t think we deserved to win today, Durham played really well, they got a very competitive total.
“I think whilst we battled along to keep ourselves in the game, we were neck and neck for long periods, they put enough pressure on and made sure that it was really difficult for us to get a roll on.”
“I don’t think anyone knew quite how the wicket was going to play. I think it played better than we thought it would.”
“I thought we gave a decent account of ourselves tonight, but the basics weren’t there to be honest.
“It was just in general, energy in the field and off the ball stuff was poor. We’ve had a couple of weeks away from it and it probably looked that way, but that’s no excuse as we knew what the schedule would be like.”
