Steve Rhodes hailed a "tremendous performance" as Worcestershire Rapids maintained their top two spot in the NatWest T20 Blast North Group with a 20 run win over Notts Outlaws at Trent Bridge.
Worcestershire bounced back from the disappointment of losing the LV = County Championship clash between the two sides to silence a near full-house crowd with their sixth win in nine T20 games.
Tom Kohler-Cadmore's competition best 75 was the bedrock of their 173 all out and then disciplined bowling and magnificent fielding accounted for the Outlaws talented batting line-up.
Director of Cricket Rhodes said: "It's been a long week in Nottingham but what a great ending. I'm so proud of them. The batting of Tom (Kohler-Cadmore) and the support he got throughout the innings was outstanding.
"Then the way we fielded….we've fielded well at times but there was some stunning ground fielding, some amazing catches and then the bowlers kept their nerve and bowled terrifically, all of them.
"At the end there was some terrific death bowling, particularly from Joe (Leach) and Jack (Shantry). They might have a few runs to play with but it was tremendous to see them nail their death bowling.
"I'm just delighted because the lads have had a tough week up here. We played some good cricket but we messed up on the last day but to come and beat the Outlaws in front of a huge crowd at Trent Bridge in their own back yard convincingly, and to play so well, is tremendous.
"Hopefully we will take a lot of confidence out of this sort of victory.
"Did I think 173 was enough? We did think it was enough but we were also rueing the fact we still had three balls left in our innings and we hoped that wouldn't matter. Thankfully it didn't matter and also we lost four wickets in six balls at the end.
"We can always get better and that will be something we'd like to get better but you can't knock the performance.
"These guys have stood up against a very good Test ground outfit and we've given them a reasonable thumping in front of a huge crowd.
"It really is a happy day if you are a Worcestershire supporter and I'm so proud of the team.
"The lads who came into the team who haven't been here this week, gave us a fantastic bit of energy, Dolly, and Colin (Munro) and Pepsi (Kolhler-Cadmore) and Ross (Whiteley).
"They gave us some tremendous energy and that's what we needed after the Championship defeat."
Skipper Daryl Mitchell's medium pacers brought him excellent figures of 1-18 from four overs and spinners Saeed Ajmal and Brett D'Oliveira also made significant contributions.
Rhodes said: "Daryl's bowling was outstanding. We saw what a good job Steven Mullaney did. We knew that Daryl would play a major part for us.
"Saeed bowled outstandingly. He's gone for 33 but went for 10 off his last two balls and they were good shots. He got two crucial wickets and Brett (D'Oliveira) bowled brilliantly as well for us."
The bowlers were backed up by a fielding display which produced several excellent catches and some superb groundwork which helped to keep the pressure on the Outlaws as the run-rate started to escalate.
Rhodes said: "We work very hard on it but so do a lot of other clubs. It is nice to see when things go well.
"We had a great run out earlier (of Hales) that could well have been out as well but to the naked eye it must have been tight.
"If you look at all our fielders, they all did brilliantly. They were all fantastic and Coxy behind the stumps, he rouses the troops brilliantly now. He is very much the focal point of our fielding group.
"He sorts the angles out for Mitch. He is really maturing as a keeper in one-day cricket and four-day cricket. He is a very important part of the set-up."
