Netherlands claim first scalp

Netherlands 92 for 4 beat Worcestershire 90 for 6 (Samaraweera 47*) by six wickets
Scorecard

Netherlands clinched their first Yorkshire Bank 40 victory of the season after beating Worcestershire by six wickets in a rain-affected match at New Road.

In a Group A game reduced to 18 overs-a-side, the visitors reached their 91-run target in gloomy conditions with 14 balls to spare.

It was Worcestershire's third consecutive home defeat against Netherlands, who gained sweet revenge for their 44-run reversal at the hands of the same opponents in Rotterdam earlier this month.

After losing openers Stephan Myburgh and Wesley Barresi in successive overs with the score on 21, the Dutch dealt a massive blow to the hosts' semi-final qualification hopes following valuable contributions from Tom Cooper (29 not out) and Daan van Bunge (25).

Earlier, Worcestershire, after being put in, had been restricted to 90 for 6 after being given a welcome lift by Thilan Samaraweera, who struck an unbeaten 47 off 49 balls with four fours.

They had got off to a dismal start when Moeen Ali was caught off the second ball of the innings at short fine leg off paceman Viv Kingma. His early departure heralded the arrival of Alexei Kervezee, who has represented Netherlands at all levels since age of 13. Earlier this year, however, he announced he would no longer be available to play for them after deciding to concentrate on his New Road career.

His efforts to impress his former team-mates rapidly ended when he drove at Kingma and was caught behind by Barresi for 6. Captain Daryl Mitchell's knock was also short-lived and when he fell to Pieter Seelaar his side were struggling at 25 for 3 after seven overs.

Next in was teenage batsman Tom Fell, who was called up for his first county appearance which lasted just three balls before a mix-up with Samaraweera led to him being run out for 2. Anish Kapil's removal for a duck then left Worcestershire in disarray with half their side out for just 28 in nine overs.

Worse was to follow when Ben Cox became another run out victim before Samaraweera and Brett D'Oliveira (16 not out) did their best to repair the damage with an unbeaten stand worth 55 in 7.3 overs.