T20 Blast: Daryl Mitchell inspires Worcs to win over Bears

Daryl Mitchell hit 68 not out in last Friday's win at Derbyshire

In-form Daryl Mitchell hit his second successive T20 Blast half-century as Worcestershire cruised to victory over local rivals Birmingham Bears.

Chasing 134, Mitchell (62 not out) lead from the front as the Rapids romped to an eight-wicket win with 33 balls left.

The Bears only mustered 133-8 with Shoaib Malik (50) and Jonathan Trott (39) the mainstays as Jack Shantry and Chris Russell shared six wickets.

But it never looked enough as the Rapids sealed a sixth-straight success.

At a sold-out New Road, both sides came into the game in good form with the Bears, who included all-rounder Chris Woakes after he drove down from Leeds following his omission from the England side for the second Test against Sri Lanka, looking for their fifth win in a row.

But despite an 82-run partnership between Malik and Trott, their innings fell away when both were dismissed within eight balls of each other.

Although Shantry (3-25) and Russell (3-26) were the most successful Rapids bowlers, Saeed Ajmal's four overs cost only 10 runs.

Despite the early loss of Richard Oliver, the Rapids never looked troubled with Mitchell, whose knock came off 45 balls with seven fours, getting good support from Tom Kohler-Cadmore (25) and all-rounder Colin Munro (39 not out).