The Bears needed to win their remaining two games and hope that several other results went their way, but their win over Glamorgan wasn’t enough to keep hopes of a Quarter Final place alive. Somerset’s victory at Northampton tonight means the Bears are now unable to finish inside the top three of the Central & West Group.
Westwood’s side got their 2026 Blast campaign off a slow start, losing their opening five games, however they have fought back in impression fashion over the second half of the season, winning five of their last six.
“We started slowly,” Westwood said. “We were missing some key personnel which hit us quite hard at the start of the competition, but having said that, there were a couple of games in that first four in particular that we should have won.
“The turnaround's been impressive, but when you lose the first five, you've got to be perfect from there.
“It doesn't leave any wriggle room for people playing well against you, which can happen in T20. We're pleased with the way we're playing and we look a good side at the moment so it's even more disappointing really that we're not going to feature.”
Glamorgan batted first and posted 188 for four from their 20 overs, with Usman Tariq the pick of the Bears bowlers, ending with figures of two for 26 from his four overs.
The Bears were immediately up with the run rate in their chase, thanks to a brilliant innings from opener Rob Yates (72), before late fireworks from Dan Mousley, including back-to-back sixes in the final over, sealed a four wicket win with one ball remaining.
Westwood insists he is proud of the way his team have fought through the second half of the Blast, and says although there is disappointment, they are now fully focussed on challenging for silverware in both the Metro Bank One Day Cup and the Rothesay County Championship.
“It’s one competition down, but we want to win the other two,” he added. “We're in a nice position in the County Championship, but we've got the 50-over competition to attack first, and there’s been an emergence of some outstanding performances here.
“Zen [Malik] has looked the business at the top of the order and I think Rob Yates has worked incredibly hard and showed again today how far he's come with his ball striking. We look like we've got a lot of options with the bat.
“There's a lot of depth in the second team as well, who have just won the second team T20 for the second year running, so there's people waiting to come in.
“There's lots of people who've staked a claim for next season, but first up it's the 50-over comp and we hope we can do some damage in that.”
The Bears conclude their Blast season with a trip to Northamptonshire at the cinch County Ground on Sunday 12 July, with play getting under way at 2:30pm.
