AN unbeaten half-century from Alexei Kervezee guided Worcestershire Rapids to a seven-wicket win against Yorkshire Vikings and their third successive NatWest T20 Blast victory.

Kervezee (52 not out) and Brett D’Oliveira (34no) produced an unbroken fourth-wicket stand of 66 in 7.2 overs to sweep the North Group leaders to victory with five balls to spare.

A late surge from Liam Plunkett (34no from 10 balls) and Tim Bresnan (29no from 13) lifted Vikings to 173-6 at New Road.

The former England duo blazed 61 from 17 balls at the death but it wasn’t enough.

Vikings started well after opting to bat first with skipper Alex Lees scoring 10 runs off the opening over from Joe Leach.

David Willey (6) chopped on to Ed Barnard as the first wicket fell at 34 in the fifth over.

A fine piece of fielding in the next over from Kervezee on the square leg boundary ran out Adil Rashid (1) as Yorkshire reached 37-2 from six overs.

Chris Russell, making his first T20 Blast appearance for almost two years, was struck for the first six by Jack Leaning.

At halfway, Vikings progressed to 69-2 with Lees unbeaten on 45 but the Yorkshire skipper added just one more run before he was bowled by Daryl Mitchell.

Former England batsman Gary Ballance reverse-swept D’Oliveira for a boundary as the visitors kept the scoreboard ticking over.

Another tidy over from Mitchell (1-15) contained Yorkshire to 85-3 from 13 overs.

A short ball from Leach accounted for Leaning (24), who was caught by Ben Cox after trying to repeat a pull shot that yielded a boundary the previous delivery.

Leach (3-33) then removed Will Rhodes (3), who chopped on a short ball, to reduce Yorkshire to 99-5 in the 16th over.

He claimed his third wicket, bowling Ballance (24), before Plunkett and Bresnan changed the course of the innings.

Plunkett hammered three sixes off Barnard (1-45) as the visitors took 30 off the penultimate and Matt Henry’s final over cost 18 runs.

In reply, Mitchell struck two boundaries from James Wainman in the opening over and Tom Kohler-Cadmore registered the hosts’ first six in his next.

Rapids surged to 35-0 from four overs and Mitchell then collected two boundaries off Liam Plunkett before holing out to Ballance at mid-on for 29 from just 17 balls.

The hosts brought up their 50 in the sixth over before Plunkett deceived Kohler-Cadmore (19) with a slower ball as Rapids slipped to 57-2 after seven.

Successive boundaries from Kervezee off Rashid kept Rapids’ momentum going as the hosts progressed to 87-2 at the mid-point.

Joe Clarke’s straight six off Rashid brought up Rapids’ hundred in the 12th over before he was caught by Ballance at long off for 34.

But Kervezee and D’Oliveira reduced Rapids’ target to 22 from three overs.

Kervezee reached his half-century from 35 balls before D’Oliveira completed the triumph off the first ball of the last over.