Moeen Ali, Ben Cox lead Worcestershire to T20 Blast title

89

Moeen Ali’s three-for and a 27-ball 46* from Ben Cox helped Worcestershire to their maiden T20 Blast trophy as they beat Sussex by five wickets at Edgbaston on Saturday, September 15.

Bating first, Sussex hit up 157/6, a competitive total, but the Ali-led Worcestershire scaled the target with five wickets and nine balls to spare after Cox’s heroics. Cox came in to bat at 80/3 in the 11th over, and slammed five fours and two sixes in his match-winning knock.

“It’s hard to put into words. Today’s been my day. Credit to the boys for this fantastic effort. We grew up together, most of us, now we can enjoy our success and soak it all in. It’s one of those days and we are never going to forget it,” said Player of the Match Cox after the game.

After winning the toss and electing to bat first, Sussex got off to a blazing start with Philip Salt scoring 17 in eight balls before he fell to a run out at the end of the second over with the total on 19.

Laurie Evans then put up a 58-run stand with Luke Wright, the captain, for the third wicket before Wright was dismissed for a 25-ball 33 by Ali, his opposite number. Evans continued to keep it strong, adding 44 runs for the fourth wicket with Delray Rawlins (16-ball 21) and scoring an important half-century before being dismissed for a 44-ball 52 by Ed Barnard.

The finishing impetus that Sussex wanted for never came, as they could add just 24 runs in the last four overs. David Wiese, Michael Burgess and Jofra Archer failed to capitalise on the foundation built for them, as the Worcestershire pacers hit the right lengths to restrict the opposition and set themselves a smaller target than looked likely at one stage.

Ali was the pick of the Worcestershire bowlers with figures of 3/30 in his four overs.

The foundation for the chase was built by the opening combination of Joe Clarke and Ali, before the former was dismissed by Danny Brings in the seventh over for a well-made 27-ball 33.

Tom Fell’s dismissal in the very next over followed by Brett D’Oliveira’s wicket for 10 put Worcestershire under a bit of pressure, but Cox came in at No.5 and changed the complexion of the chase, finishing the game off with a pull off Archer.

“The guys deserved it. As a club, we deserved it, the way we’ve been playing throughout the year. Today was special for us as a group. Everyone chipped in at some stage and we’ve been doing that all year,” said Ali. “Today was Coxy’s day. He was fantastic in both games and I’m really chuffed for him after having a tough week. He was a massive player for me this year in this competition.”