D’Oliveira stars with bat and ball as Worcestershire take derby

Worcestershire 161 for 5 (Bell 66) beat Birmingham 155 for 7 (D’Oliveira 62*, Kervezee 40) by five wickets Scorecard

Ian Bell, moved aside by England, has found much to sustain him, at 34, as a captain of the county that has been part of his life since childhood. Bell’s influence at Edgbaston is considerable on and off the field but, in front of more than 13,000, he found little solace in the NatWest Blast as Worcestershire took the match that matters above all others – the West Midlands derby – by five wickets with five balls to spare.

Bell’s 66, from 57 balls, for Birmingham was old school: an experienced assessment of the character of a slow Edgbaston pitch. He began sparkily, reined himself in in characteristic style when Worcestershire took pace off the ball in mid innings, looked on forlornly when the big-hitters failed to cause havoc around him, and then fell to a miscue in the final slog as Birmingham set a target that demanded a dominant bowling display to see them home.

“Twenty runs short,” Bell admitted. “We didn’t cash in during the middle period. We want to play with no fear and we probably didn’t get that right today.”

That dominant Birmingham bowling performance did not happen. Instead, Brett D’Oliveira played the most inventive innings of the night, fleet-footed and mentally sharp, to take Worcestershire home with an unbeaten 62 from 38 balls. He should have fallen to Recordo Gordon two balls from the end when Rob Adair dropped a sitter at backward point, but he deserved his luck. So reprieved, with the scores tied, he settled the match with the serenest of straight sixes …

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