BEARS head coach Ian Westwood says the Birmingham side have ‘bought a ticket for the show’ after clinching their Vitality Blast quarter-final place in style.
Tom Latham fired a 51-ball 104, and shared an opening stand of 187 with skipper Alex Davies (89) as Bears recorded a huge total of 233 for five against Derbyshire Falcons.
In response, Falcons were never going to challenge that target and were dismissed for 106 in 15.1 overs – with spinner Jake Lintott taking three for 27.
The result means Bears have sealed third place in the North Group and will now go to Somerset for a quarter-final clash on September 6. Finals Day is on September 13 at Edgbaston.
Westwood told the Bears’ YouTube channel: “We said before the game that whichever team assessed the conditions and adapted the quickest best, would would come out on top.
“Our openers read the pitch and the way it was going to play – and it was a fantastic partnership.
“It was nice to extend that and really accelerate through those middle overs. It was really clinical. And it’s always hard for the opposition when you’re coming out and you chasing more than 230, you’ve got to go pretty hard in the power plays.
“So once you start getting a couple of wickets, it’s difficult for new players to come in and score quickly from ball one, Garton and Gleeson were at the top and everybody formed their role really well after that.
“It’s a great feeling, but it was just important to have a ticket for the show, and we’ve got one now.
“It doesn’t really matter where we go, where we play, we’ve got a crack in that quarter-final to get to finals day, so wherever it is, we’ll go there with confidence.”
