WORCESTERSHIRE director of cricket Steve Rhodes praised his side after they bounced back from successive County Championship defeats and the Royal London One-Day Cup semi-final setback.

They had lost to Sussex and Glamorgan in Division Two and to Surrey in the cup but hit back with a great run chase to beat Kent by four wickets at New Road.

Rhodes said: “It was a great game and I'm obviously delighted to win. I think we should pay tribute to Joe Denly’s knock as well (227 in Kent's second innings).

"It was a fantastic knock. He was very difficult to bowl at and very solid.

“But then that chase by us was very special — the start we got, the impetus from Dolly (Brett D’Oliveira), Mitch (Daryl Mitchell) and Moeen (Ali) and then what was probably the match-winning stand between Mitch and Joe Clarke.

“We needed two guys to get centuries and got that.

“Joe has been short of runs this season and it has hurt him. He showed his sheer determination of making the most of being in good nick.

“To get two hundreds in a game is a wonderful effort and he is definitely the man of the match.

“We did have a couple of tough games in the Championship, albeit games where we played well in spells, and no one wants to lose in a semi-final.

“But we are mature enough to understand we are not going to go through seasons in the vein we were doing.

"At one stage we were just winning all the time and that doesn’t always last.

“We came up against some good teams who at times played better than us so to get back on the right tracks with a victory was really important.

“There has been a lot of talk of the team on a high but then on a slide. Hopefully that will just show people we are very determined to make sure we see the season through.”