DIRECTOR of cricket Steve Rhodes said losing too many wickets in the powerplay was the crucial factor as Worcestershire Rapids fell by 11 runs against Notts Outlaws in the NatWest T20 Blast.

Rapids produced a fine bowling display at New Road to restrict the North Group leaders to 145-8.

Alex Hepburn’s 5-24 were the best figures by a County bowler in the short format and the entire attack kept a tight grip on Outlaws.

But then Rapids lost four wickets in the first six overs of their reply to leave them facing an uphill battle.

Despite good knocks from Ben Cox (17), Daryl Mitchell (32) and Ross Whiteley (28) they closed on 134-8.

Rhodes said: “It was the powerplay that killed us.

"We were four wickets down in five-and-a-bit overs and that tends to be four of your better guys. The platform wasn’t really set for us to win the game.

“I don’t think we read the pitch very well. I don’t think it was a wicket for trying to strike the faster bowlers.

“It was a wicket for using the pace of the faster bowlers and that was probably not communicated very well.

“We needed to rebuild and there was a great effort from Daryl, Coxy and Ross at the end. But Notts bowled well under pressure.”

Hepburn surpassed Mitchell’s figures of 5-28 against Northamptonshire at Northampton three years ago.

Rhodes added: “Alex got five wickets which was a great effort, coming in for that situation and bowling well at the death too.

“We bowled some really good overs and then the last ball went for four or six and that’s something to learn from.

“But generally the bowling and fielding was pretty good.”

All-rounder Hepburn made his mark in this season’s Professional Cricketers’ Association most valuable player rankings as a result.

He earned 19 points after accumulating only 31 in his career previously in the Royal London One Day Cup in 2015 with six wickets from two appearances against Leicestershire and Derbyshire.

But Hepburn now has 25 points from three Blast appearances.

Mitchell Santner is Worcestershire’s highest-ranked player in this season’s Blast rankings.

The New Zealand all-rounder is 17th on 111 points with opener Joe Clarke 23rd on 96.

Wicketkeeper Ben Cox is 43rd with 84 and Brett D’Oliveira 51st on 78.

In the overall PCA award across all formats captain Joe Leach is the County’s highest-ranked player in 16th with 309 points.

Opener Mitchell, the PCA chairman, is 20th with 292, Clarke 33rd on 267, Cox 39th on 253 and D’Oliveira 45th on 244.

Mitchell is Worcestershire's best-placed player in the County Championship rankings in 24th with 144.

Seamer Ed Barnard is five places and five points further back.

Paceman Josh Tongue moved into 34th in his debut season with 131 and Clarke is 41st on 126.