Rhodes overjoyed as Worcester seal a home semi-final
WORCESTERSHIRE’s director of cricket Steve Rhodes has paid tribute to his players for securing top spot in the One-Day Cup’s North Group and a home semi-final after beating Derbyshire.
In a rain-affected match, Tom Kohler-Cadmore and Daryl Mitchell hit half-centuries to help the visitors chase down Derbyshire’s revised total of 218 with 24 balls to spare.
Rhodes could not contain his excitement at the prospect of a home semi-final in the limited overs competition.
“I’m delighted for the players and the staff who put in the work and time to try and get that home semifinal,” the 52-year-old said. “It’s going to be a nice pay-day for the club and I’m very proud of what the team have done.”
“We’re a small club and we like to play our young academy players.We don’t venture off too much with the non-English players and it’s a nice feeling to finish top.”
Derbyshire, who could not qualify for the knockout stages going into the match, will take positives from the tournament, according to fast bowler Hardus Viljoen.
He said: “We are a young team. We’ve shown in patches in this competition that we can play good cricket but we are also still learning.
“You need to strike up front early on but the guy [Kohler-Cadmore] who scored 63 came in and played a knock out of his socks.”