Hain, Hasan and Briggs keep Bears on track for quarter-finals

Birmingham Bears took a big stride towards Vitality Blast qualification with a comfortable 23-run win over neighbours Worcestershire Rapids at broiling Visit Worcestershire New Road.

The Bears' 176 all out was solid rather than spectacularly compiled. It lacked a major contribution but Sam Hain (44 off 35 balls) and George Garton (36 not out off 22) ensured a competitive total against an attack led by Ben Dwarshuis.

The Rapids' reply started ponderously - 15 for 1 after five overs - and faded away to 153 all out. Adam Hose defied against his former team-mates with 51 off 39 but Danny Briggs took 3 for 37 to sentence the home side to a seventh group defeat which extinguishes their hopes of reaching the quarter-finals.

Put in, the Bears lost openers Alex Davies and Tom Latham cheaply but rallied through a stand of 63 in 34 balls between Haon and Dan Mousley. The latter clubbed 31 from 17 balls before edging a pull at Adam Finch to wicketkeeper Gareth Roderick.

Jacob Bethell, back from England duty, lifted his fourth ball, from spinner Fateh Singh, to long-off but Hain found another perky partner in Ed Barnard. The former Rapids allrounder hit 23 from 13 balls before sending up a colossal skier, well-claimed by Roderick, off Dwarshuis.

Kurram Shahzad followed up with two wickets in an over when Hain pulled to deep midwicket and Hasan Ali offered a simple return catch. Briggs edged Dwarshuis behind and when Craig Miles, called for an impossible second by Garton, was beaten by Ethan Brookes' throw, five wickets had fallen for 26 runs in 21 balls.

That was 156 for 9 but the last wicket proved elusive for the Rapids as Garton farmed the strike cleverly to add a vital 20.

The Rapids' reply started slowly with just 12 on the board from 20 balls when Brett D'Oliveira thrashed Hasan to extra cover. Seventeen-year-old Isaac Mohammed (25 off 23) lifted the Pakistan international for successive sixes but then skewed an attempted lap high to short third man.

At 64 for 2 from ten overs, the Rapids needed 11 per over through the second half and that pressure told. Briggs began and ended his second over with wickets - Roderick caught at backward point and Brookes lbw, sweeping - and also ousted the dangerous Dwarshuis, caught at short third man.

Hose collected his 22nd T20 half-century but, supported by fine boundary fielding, with some exceptional diving stops, Warwickshire's bowlers maintained the pressure to close out a comfortable victory.