Kervezee ends lean run to lift Worcestershire

Worcestershire 120-5 (Kervezee 42*) beat Gloucestershire 119-8 (Mitchell 3-21) by five wickets

Worcestershire overpowered Gloucestershire to register their first Friends Life t20 win of the season by five wickets at New Road.

Gloucestershire's dismal batting performance on a slow, dry pitch mustered only 119 for nine and that proved to be plain sailing for Worcestershire, who won with five overs to spare thanks to a flash of form for Alexei Kervezee, who has had a difficult summer since he retired from international cricket with the Netherlands.

Kervezee went into the match with one half-century in 26 previous innings in all formats - that arriving in a Yorkshire Bank 40 meeting with his former Dutch team-mates - but he held his focus in cruising to an unbeaten 42 from 32 balls.

Worcestershire dominated the game from the outset but created some pressure in the way they lost wickets at key times.

Moeen Ali, following a successful spell of 2 for 14 with his off-breaks, was going well on 22 when he swept Tom Smith to deep square leg.

But there was no more careless dismissal that that of Andre Russell, who hit a rapid 18 before he was run out in mind-numbing fashion, ambling towards the bowlers' end with his bat off the ground when looking for a single off a no ball from Dan Christian and beaten by a trundling direct hit.

When Gareth Andrew chipped Smith to mid-wicket, giving the left-arm spinner two for 22, the home side were on 93 for five but Ben Cox completed the job with a straight six off Benny Howell.

Comprehensively beaten in their first two group games, Worcestershire selected three spinners in an attempt to take advantage of a dry, sparsely-grassed surface.

The slow surface meant there was scant entertainment for the New Road crowd as Gloucestershire foundered but the plan worked to perfection in the case of Moeen, who delivered 14 dot balls in four overs. Daryl Mitchell later turned in a spell of three for 21.

Six batsmen got into double figures but no one could break free as Worcestershire backed up their bowlers with slick catching, none better than Kervezee's overhead take from Howell in front of the rope at mid-wicket.