Bears looking for derby win to give hopes Blast-off

THE Bears are looking to finish the first block of Vitality Blast fixtures on a high note with a victory over local rivals Worcestershire Rapids at Edgbaston tonight.

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They are fifth in a highly-congested table at the halfway stage, with plenty of cricket still to be played.

Reflecting on their progress so far, head coach Ian Westwood said: “It’s been up and down. We got off to a bad start, but since then, we've put in some good performances.

“We've lost a couple of really tight games, which is always hard to take. However, it hasn't affected the mood in the camp, the lads are still full of confidence and know a couple of wins will see us climb the table quickly.”

The Bears’ most recent victory came at Headingley when they turned over Yorkshire by 32 runs to make it six in a row against the Vikings.

Tom Latham and Dan Mousley have been particularly impressive with the bat, alongside the all-round quality of Ed Barnard and overseas impact of Hassan Ali.

There is a chance the Bears could climb into the top four before the break for two rounds of County Championship fixtures, due to their superior net run-rate to those around them.