Worcestershire Rapids skipper Daryl Mitchell will leave the mathematical conundrums surrounding the finale of the NatWest T20 Blast to the experts and said: "All we can do is concentrate on trying to beat Derbyshire."
The Rapids will go into this evening's home clash with the Falcons faced with the possibility of finishing second – and a home quarter-final tie – or fifth and missing out on the knockout stages.
A win will ensure a last eight spot but if Nottinghamshire Outlaws lose to Yorkshire Vikings then finishing runners-up to Lancashire Lightning could still be a possibility.
Equally if Yorkshire and Birmingham Bears win then the Rapids could still miss out on qualifying if they are beaten.
Mitchell said: "It is exciting. We've still got a chance of a home quarter-final, we can still mathematically finish fifth as well and be out of the quarter-finals.
"There is a lot riding on it. I'm not even going to bother trying to work out net run rates. I'll leave that to the mathematicians after the game!
"All we can do is concentrate on trying to beat Derbyshire. We had a really close game up there, a hard fought game, they've got some really good players, so it won't be easy.
"Hopefully we can put on a performance for the home fans."
Mitchell added: "We've never had a home quarter-final so that would be pretty special if we can get a good win and give ourselves a good chance of that.
"If it's not to be, then we have to go down south somewhere and try and get a win in that quarter-final.
"If we play to our maximum we can beat anyone on our day and I'm sure a lot of sides will say that.
"It's all about putting in a performance, first and foremost on Friday. We know our ground, we know our wickets, and hopefully we can exploit that."
NORTH GROUP
LEADING POSITIONS
Lancs Played 13, Won 9, Lost 2, No result 2, Points 20, Net run rate 0.799
Notts 13, 8, 3, 2, 18, 0.668
Worcs 13, 7, 4, 2, 16, 0.384
Yorks 13, 6,4, 3, 15, 0.672
Bham 13, 6, 5, 2, 14, 0.013
