Vitality Blast Men 2026, GLA vs WOR Central & West Group Match Report, July 05, 2026

Worcestershire 161 for 9 (Roderick 71, Kellaway 3-24) beat Glamorgan 146 (Kellaway 43, Singh 3-17, Swanepoel 3-36) by 15 runs

Worcestershire Rapids kept themselves in the hunt for a Vitality Blast quarter-final spot with a 15-run win over Glamorgan in Cardiff. It was Gareth Roderick who set the tone with an excellent innings that held together a Worcestershire batting effort which saw regular wickets fall throughout.

Having been set 163 to win Glamorgan looked to be in control of the chase with Ben Kellaway top-scoring for them with an excellent innings of 43 before he was run out and their batting effort fell away.

The wickets were shared amongst the Rapids bowlers but it was Usama Mir’s 2 for 17 off his four overs that really choked the life out of the Glamorgan chase. This win moves Worcestershire to 24 points, the best record amongst teams in third as things stand, which leaves them well-placed to make the knockout stages.

Having won the toss and elected to bat the Rapids made steady progress through the Powerplay despite the loss of both openers inside the first six overs.

There was a mini recovery for the Rapids as Adam Hose and Roderick put on a stand of 36 before the former was bowled by Mason Crane for 16. Kellaway then picked up two more Worcestershire wickets in back-to-back ball with both Henry Cullen and Mir dismissed.

When Roderick was the fourth Worcestershire batter to be bowled the score was 119 for 6 and there was still a lot of work to be done for the Rapids. Roderick equalled his career-best 71, a score he also made against Derbyshire in last year’s Blast, but with him gone it put a lot of pressure on the lower order to keeps things going.

Despite losing Roderick when well set, and no other batter going past 19, the Rapids did a decent job to reach 162 for 9 off their 20 overs, a score that is very close to the 2026 first-innings average of 166 on this ground, with the lower order all making important contributions.

Nathan McAndrew was having a poor day by his standards, having conceded 36 runs from 2.2 overs when an unbelievable one-handed catch from James Neesham at deep square leg saw him claim the wicket of Matthew Waite for 10.

In the Glamorgan innings it was the turn of Beyers Swanepoel to get two wickets in two balls as he had Will Smale well caught by a diving Mir at backward point before Asa Tribe was caught behind first ball. That left Glamorgan 46 for 3 inside the Powerplay.

It looked as if Kellaway would play the role that Roderick had for the Rapids but he pushed the ball to sub fielder Jake Libby inside the ring and set off for single that just wasn’t there to be run out for really well-made 43.

The score was 100 for 5 and when Kellaway went and there was hope, but when Fateh Singh took the wickets of Chris Cooke and Dan Douthwaite in the same over it effected ended the Glamorgan chase. From there it was a brave effort from the Glamorgan lower order but they were bowled out for 146 in the last over.

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