Gloucestershire defeated Worcestershire by nine wickets
Worcestershire were left peering over the precipice at Twenty20 Cup elimination after a feeble defeat against Gloucestershire.
On a tired pitch wholly unsuited to this form of cricket, Worcestershire failed to bat through their 20 overs and slumped to their lowest total in the short history of Twenty20 cricket.
The same pitch had been used for the two previous Twenty20 Cup matches and the totesport League match against Essex and proved to be two-paced.
As a result there was too much assistance for mediumpacers. Run-scoring was difficult, certainly when Worcestershire were batting, anyway.
Spectators could also be forgiven a sense of deja vu as Philip Weston led the assault on the Worcestershire total. The man whom former coach Tom Moody deemed surplus to requirements saw off a hostile spell from Shoaib Akhtar to lead Gloucestershire to a crushing ninewicket victory with a quarter of their overs in hand.
Just as he had in the match between the sides in Bristol and in last year's Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy final at Lord's, he made his point most eloquently.
This was a one-sided encounter from the first delivery when Worcestershire captain Gareth Batty, having chosen to bat in overcast conditions, had his off stump removed by one that nipped back at him.
Graeme Hick, having scored 154 in his first two matches in the competition this season, has scored only 26 in four subsequent innings. Here he was unsettled by a fine bouncer, taking his eyes off the ball and fending a catch to fine leg. Only Stephen Moore (22 balls, a six and a four) hinted at better things.
Worcestershire's biggest error was failing to change their tactics in response to the bowler- friendly conditions.
Instead of setting their sights on a modest total, they continued to play far too aggressively for the conditions, going for broke when they should have been content to milk the bowling.
Man-of-the-match Mark Alleyne, varying his pace expertly, produced remarkably frugal figures - a competition record - while Martyn Ball's off-spin was made to look practically unplayable.
Perhaps Worcestershire's day was encapsulated when David Leatherdale pulled the slowest of long-hops straight to mid-wicket.
Batty was honest about his team's shortcomings. "We didn't asses the conditions quickly enough and, as a result, didn't score enough runs," he said.
"I thought we bowled very well in the first ten overs and, had we scored 130, it would have been a tight game. But as it is we'll have to win all three of our remaining games to have a chance. Still, we'll be trying to drag another team or two out of the competition with us."
Batty was also frank about the pitch, saying: "I'd like us to play every game on a fresh pitch. People come to these games to see runs scored and, if it's anything to do with me, we won't be playing on the same track again on Wednesday."
Moody's decision to allow the left-hander to leave with a year remaining on his contract clearly did not have the support of the rest of the squad. Batty said: "We were stupid to let him go - and you can quote me on that. He's a quality player and he's made us pay three times now.
"He's stuck two fingers up at us. He played here for ten years on more difficult pitches than this and showed he is a fine player."
If Worcestershire were to defend such a paltry total they needed early wickets. Shoaib, bowling waspishly fast, peppered Weston with hostile deliveries but, when he did find the edge, the ball either flew for four or De Bruyn spilt the chance at first slip.
Weston, who described the bowling as "the fastest I've faced for several years", had scored only six at the time of his reprieve.
Weston (46 balls, five fours and two sixes) weathered the storm before unveiling those familiar drives as well as two splendidly-flicked legside sixes off Batty and the profligate Nadeem Malik.
Chris Taylor (30 balls, five fours) added sensible support, pulling successive long-hops from Malik for boundaries and sweeping the spin expertly.
Well though Leatherdale and Daryl Mitchell bowled, there simply were not enough runs to play with and Worcestershire need to win both their remaining matches and hope that results elsewhere go their way.
With top- of- the- table Northants the opponents tomorrow, Worcestershire's prospects appear bleak.
