Worcestershire Academy went down by 14 runs in their Tri-Series 50 over meeting with Leicestershire at Barnt Green despite a five wicket haul from Rohan Hesketh and half centuries from Ed Bragg and Alex Hinkley.
Leicestershire opted to bat and totalled 259 before being dismissed from the final ball of their innings.
Hesketh made the first breakthrough with the new ball in dismissing Sam Bates (10) with 29 on the board and then Seb Smith worked his way through the middle order.
He picked up the next three wickets to leave Leicestershire on 113-4 and ended with figures of 10-0-44-3.
Rehan Ahmed (50) and Chris Yates (47) added 77 for the fifth wicket before falling to Ollie Walker and Reeve Evitts respectively.
Hesketh returned to the attack and quickly accounted for the lower order with a burst of four wickets for four runs in the space of 15 balls.
He even managed to deliver a maiden in the 49th over and closed with an analysis of 10-1-49-5.
Worcestershire flourished in reply via a third wicket partnership of 119 between Bragg and Hinkley.
They came together at 40-2 in the 12th over and their stand occupied only 18 overs in taking the total to 159-2 in the 30th over.
But they then both fell in the space of five balls in the same over from Raheem Ahmed.
Bragg, who made 53 from 50 balls with one six and seven fours, went to the first ball of the over and the fifth accounted for Hinkley whose 70 came off 67 deliveries with three sixes and five fours.
Henry Cullen – 33 off 53 balls – and Oliver Halion added 37 for the eighth wicket.
But the Academy pulled up just short and closed on 245-9 with Halion remaining undefeated on 31 from 33 balls.
