Worcestershire secure Pro40 title

Worcestershire 271 for 6 (Davies 84, Ali 72) beat Gloucestershire 270 for 9 (Spearman 71, Gidman 63) by six wickets
Scorecard

Gareth Batty and Stephen Moore embrace after taking Worcestershire to victory © Getty Images

Worcestershire, who have endured a season from hell, finally had something to smile about as they wrapped up the Pro40 Division One title with a six-wicket win over neighbours Gloucestershire in a day-night match at Bristol.

Flooding at New Road has meant that their home ground has been unusable for almost three months - costing them hundreds of thousands of pounds - and they have also been relegated from the top flight of the Championship. But all that was put to one side for a while.

Their victory on Sunday meant that they had to win one of their last two games, and they achieved that at the first time of asking with an assured batting performance led by Steve Davies and Moeen Ali. The openers put on 151 for Worcestershire's first wicket as they chased a stiff target of 271 and from then on in they were always up with the asking rate. Davies hammered 84 off 93 balls while Ali's 72 came off 51 - Jon Lewis came in for some particular stick, his six overs costing 62.

Stephen Moore and Graeme Hick added 59 for the third wicket, but during their stand there was more drama as the floodlights failed. After a 15-minute delay the game resumed, Hick was almost immediately bowled for 34 and Abdul Razzaq followed for 1. But by then the contest was as good as over and Worcestershire ambled home with 11 balls in hand.

"We won't need any help celebrating," Worcestershire's captain, Gareth Batty, grinned. "There's never been a season like it in our history for weather, but the lads have been great and the spirit in the team has seen us through. It's our first trophy for so many years and it is great to have won it.

"It wasn't an easy total to face, but we haven't lost a one-day game since the start of June. The pitch was a good one for batting and the only time I was worried was when the lights went out. That cost us wickets, I'm sure, but we had enough in hand to win."

Gloucestershire had seemed set to prove party poopers as they rattled up a formidable 270 for 9. In reality, they should have got more as a third-wicket stand of 115 between Craig Spearman and Alex Gidman took them to 182 for 2 in the 26th over. But Worcestershire hit back, taking six wickets for 49 in seven overs.