Oakham Cricket Festival was cut short on Friday as Leicestershire Foxes were defeated by Worcestershire Pears.

Last week, Oakham School hosted the Oakham Cricket Festival 2023.

Starting on Wednesday 19 July, the Oakham Cricket Festival at Oakham School saw Leicestershire County Cricket Club face Worcestershire County Cricket Club in an exciting four day tournament, that was scheduled to conclude on Saturday.

However, the four day event became a three day defeat for the home team, as Worcestershire won by 100 runs.

The Leicestershire 'Foxes' headed into the 'Festival of Cricket' placed second in the table, securing a high-scoring draw in the rain-affected fixture at Glamorgan last time out – led by Rishi Patel's career-best 179.

Leicestershire CCC vs Worcestershire CCC at Oakham School. Image credit: Martin Ball.

Last time to Foxes met Worcestershire, the 'Pears' edged a thriller last time out at New Road. 20 wickets fell on day one, as Chris Wright's five for 32 helped the Foxes dismiss the hosts for just 83.

The loss of Lewis Hill (49) in the second innings saw Leicestershire fall from 160/5 to 180 all out in tricky batting conditions, leaving Worcestershire with a target of 271 for victory.

As the pitch became flatter, the 'Foxes' found it harder to take wickets. Wiaan Mulder took a valiant 4/69, while Josh Davey claimed 3/61, but solid showings from Gareth Roderick (59) and Adam Hose (84) helped the 'Pears' to a three-wicket win.

Oakham School is hosting four days of cricket between Leicestershire and Worcestershire this week and weekend. Image credit: LCCC website / screenshot.

On day one, Worcestershire were all out for 178 and the Foxes are 88 for 8, with 18 wickets taken on the first day.

Day two saw the first innings resulting in a score of 178 for the Foxes vs the Pears' 110. The second innings resulted in a 169 score for the Foxes and 114/7 for the Pears.

On Friday 21 June, Leicestershire needed 124 runs to win.

However, this was a push too far for the County team, who played admirably but could not recapture the hefty lead gained by Worcestershire.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐔𝐋𝐓 | Worcestershire win by 100 runs.<br><br>Two further wickets for Tongue, Wright finishes on 18*.<br><br>WOR 178 &amp; 169<br>LEI 110 &amp; 137<br><br>🦊<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/LEIvWOR?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#LEIvWOR</a> <a href="https://t.co/Ae5DZR8Vsu">pic.twitter.com/Ae5DZR8Vsu</a></p>&mdash; Leicestershire CCC 🏏 (@leicsccc) <a href="https://twitter.com/leicsccc/status/1682336015711895553?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 21, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Play attracted local visitors and spectators from Worcestershire. Image credit: Martin Ball.

Congratulations to the teams and host, Oakham School.