T20 Blast: Quarterfinal 3 Review- Callum Ferguson's knock guides Worcestershire through to the semis

The league stage of the Vitality T20 Blast treated the fans with some great games of cricket and through some amazing adrenaline rush. But, the knockout stages of the tournament are proving out to be a complete bummer. All the three quarterfinal games that were played thus far were one-sided affairs. Worcestershire played hosts to Gloucestershire for the third quarterfinal which was mostly dominated by the hosts.

The visitors batted first in the match and failed to put up a good total on the board. Hence, it was quite an easy chase for their opponents in the second innings of the match. By winning this game by 5 wickets, Worcestershire are now through to the semi-finals of the tournament. The sides that have batted first have lost all the three quarterfinal games till now.

Only the top three deliver for Gloucestershire

Gloucestershire were put into bat first by Worcestershire in their home conditions. The visitors started things off on a decent note with the openers adding 65 runs together. While skipper Michael Klinger scored 24 off 23 balls, his partner Miles Hammond played the role of an aggressor in this partnership. Hammond scored 45 off 31 balls before he got out.

However, after these two wickets fell, Ian Cockbain was left stranded alone in the middle. He literally had no support from the other batsmen. Wickets kept falling at regular intervals and Cockbain, after looking good with a 29-ball 35 was run out. Only one batsman apart from the top three managed to get to the double-figure mark. Wicketkeeper Roderick scored 12 off 11 balls. Gloucestershire only managed to score 136 runs in 20 overs with Brett D’Oliveira picking up 4 wickets for the home side.

Callum Ferguson steers his side

Worcestershire’s openers couldn’t really deliver in this game. Skipper Moeen Ali was dismissed in the second over for just 1 run by Matt Taylor. Andrew Tye sent the other opener Joe Clarke back into the hut. Furthermore, Brett D’Oliveira also got out for 7 runs as they were in great trouble at 42/3. At this stage, Callum Ferguson took the onus upon himself to take his side over the line.

He took a cautious approach to his game but still scored runs at a fair clip. With little support from the other batsmen, he ensured that he remained out there in the middle till the end. Ferguson was unbeaten on 64 off 47 balls and his innings included 6 fours. B Cox and Ross Whiteley scored 11 and 20 runs respectively as their side got home with 5 wickets remaining and 8 balls left.

Brief Scores:

Gloucestershire: 136/8 in 20 overs (M Hammond 45, Ian Cockbain 35, Brett D’Oliveira 4/26)

Worcestershire: 137/5 in 18.4 overs (Callum Ferguson 64*, Ross Whiteley 20, Benny Howell 2/22)

Result: Worcestershire won by 5 wickets.

Man of the Match: Callum Ferguson

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