Mitchell keeps Worcestershire rolling

Worcestershire 134 for 2 (Mitchell 62*) beat Warwickshire 133 for 8 (Malik 50, Shantry 3-25, Russell 3-26) by eight wickets
Scorecard

Jonathan Trott continued his comeback with a low-key innings as Warwickshire were swept up in Worcestershire's winning streak at the top of the NatWest T20 Blast North Group.

The England batsman made 39 from 38 deliveries but managed only one boundary - a pick-up for six off Colin Munro from the 31st ball he faced - as the visitors struggled to put together a total of 133 for 8.

That was nowhere good enough to test high-flying Worcestershire and they romped home by eight wickets, chalking up their sixth straight win while halting Warwickshire's run of four consecutive victories.

Although Richard Oliver fell in the first over, Daryl Mitchell posted his third half-century in four innings in the competition since moving up to open because of Moeen Ali's selection for England.

The Worcestershire captain needed treatment for a shoulder problem when he had made 31 but carried on to an unbeaten 62 with seven fours from 45 balls. Tom Kohler-Cadmore shared in a rapid partnership of 70 before the record-breaking former Malvern College batsman holed out at mid-wicket.

Munro then waded in with two reverse sweeps for six off Shoaib Malik, reaching 39 from 24 balls as Worcestershire went past the winning post with more than five overs to spare.

Earlier, all eyes were inevitably on Trott and his personal well-being after the stress-related problems resulting in his return from England's Ashes series in Australia in November and an aborted reappearance with his county in April.

No-one could accuse him of sneaking back under the radar, with a first knock of 1 in seven balls in a live TV match against Northamptonshire on Thursday and a second innings in front of a partisan sell-out crowd in a local derby.

Unlike on Thursday when he had to wait until the halfway stage to begin his innings, he was in against Worcestershire in the third over after Varun Chopra hoisted a ball from left-armer Jack Shantry to Oliver on the midwicket boundary.

Shantry also bowled William Porterfield before Trott and the impressive Malik shaped a partnership of 83 but Worcestershire, led by the impeccable Saeed Ajmal in conceding only 10 runs from four overs, never entirely lost control.

There was a spell of 15 consecutive singles before Malik began to impose himself with three sixes in reaching 50 from 39 balls but he was out immediately afterwards, carting Munro to Ross Whiteley at long-on.

Trott eased his way back into some form, 24 singles hinting at timing issues on a slow surface, but the need for acceleration cost him his wicket when a mistimed pull off Chris Russell found Ajmal at mid-on.

Pressure fell back on the lower order and Russell finished with 3 for 26, giving him 16 wickets in six games in the competition.