THE message from Worcestershire head coach Alan Richardson is that the squad "remain calm and level-headed" after they suffered a third defeat in a row in the Vitality Blast on Friday night. 

Yorkshire Vikings' James Wharton's inspired innings of 111 not-out guided the hosts to a 26-run victory, despite the Rapids' best efforts in the run chase.

Opener Brett D'Oliveira scored 47 before Kashif Ali (48) and Ben Cox (35) gave them a glimmer of hope but in the end they fell short of Yorkshire's 224 total.

The defeat was the third in a row for the Rapids, who started the campaign with four wins on the spin, but Richardson has urged his side to remain "consistent and calm". 

"In terms of momentum, it is important that we ride them both, the ups and downs. We have to stay really consistent," he said. 

"I’d like to think we didn’t get too far ahead of ourselves when we were going in a positive way.

"Having a few results going against us now, we have to remain level-headed, really consistent and calm with how we go about things.

"If we do the things we say we are going to do, we are going to give ourselves chances to win games of cricket."

The Rapids remain in the top four place for qualification to the knockout stages of the 2023 Blast but will need to end this losing run quickly. 

And they could have done that on Friday at Headingley had they taken early chances to remove centurion Wharton. 

"Initial reaction? As usual, with defeat, quite frustrated and a little disappointed, as the boys are. I thought we made a great effort of it with the bat," added Richardson.

"I am a little bit disappointed in the field, just not quite to our usual standards, which probably put us behind a little bit after the first innings.

"We created a couple of opportunities, and we didn’t take those, and that can happen. James Wharton played very well and put us under a lot of pressure. 

"We didn’t quite respond as well as we would have liked, and they probably got 20 too many on a belting pitch with a quick outfield.

"You felt like you could play strong shots and score quickly but just let ourselves down a bit in that first half, probably.

"The way we applied ourselves with the bat showed what a good pitch it was, and if we played well, we were always going to get a good score, and it would have been nice just to get a little bit closer.

"Kashif Ali and Ben Cox batted brilliantly well when we were behind the game a little bit and showed what could be done."

The Rapids are back in action on Friday in a huge clash with rivals Birmingham Bears, which is already a sold-out event at New Road.