Head Coach Alan Richardson expressed his disappointment after the 23-run defeat to the Bears at Visit Worcestershire New Road, but praised the valiant efforts of Adam Hose for his half-century in the losing cause.
Only two wins from their final two games will do and even that may not be enough, as other results must go the way of the Rapids if they are to have any chance of reaching the quarter-finals.
Having restricted the visitors to 176 all-out, Richardson was happy with his side’s efforts in the field after it looked at one stage as though they may have been chasing over 200.
“I mean, after 10 overs, we were probably staring down the barrel of 200 and I think we looked at it, the average winning score here is about 173, so we thought we did pretty well. We dragged it back and I thought the seamers, you know, again, bowled admirably.
“I think the surface probably helped them a little bit, but they bowled really well. I thought Fats was challenged a little bit, but still stuck to his task really well and got an important wicket in Jacob Bethell, so I thought chasing 176 we’d have to bat really well.
“But ultimately, you know, we just couldn’t really get going with the bat. I thought they bowled really well and made it really difficult for us.
“They held their lengths very well which made it ultimately, very difficult for us. We’ve managed not to lose too many wickets in that but we also couldn’t just get going.”
After struggling to put partnerships together, it was vice-captain Adam Hose who top-scored for his side with 51 off 36 balls, including a substantial partnership with the in-form Gareth Roderick that was worth 49-runs and very nearly put their side back in contention.
After playing two games in two days, Hose looked to struggle towards the end of his innings, having to call for a runner before he was eventually dismissed in the 19th over.
Richardson was very impressed with the partnership and said Hose would be assessed ahead of Sunday’s tie with Leicestershire Foxes
“It looks like he’s being assessed at the moment with the medical team, so we’ll see where that gets to. You know, we got back today at about half 12 in the morning, and turned around again pretty quickly.
“Adam, played really well. I thought him and Gareth’s partnership together was really good, we just needed someone to stick with Adam. But we were always looking at having to score at elevens and twelves throughout most of it, and that was always going to be a huge ask.
“You know, he played some really good shots and I thought it was a fine innings, especially because he had a slow start. They bowled really well at him at the start. It’ll be disappointing for him that he didn’t get us over the line and we’ll have to see what the medical team say.”