NO ONE could have done more than Phillip DeFreitas to ignite the nub-end of Derbyshire's interest in the last season of the Benson and Hedges Cup.

Yet in the end he had nothing to show for his 51 out of 95 added with Adrian Rollins in the last 12 overs, or for his dismissal of Worcestershire's openers, both mis-timing pulls, in successive balls.

The Gold Award, which had seemed destined for DeFreitas, went instead to Steve Rhodes for his handling of a fraught situation before Worcestershire won with a boundary off the last ball of the match from their last man, Alamgir Sheriyar.

Positive batting was never easy on a seaming surface, and nine runs were required from the final over bowled by Paul Aldred. Richard Illingworth was lbw to the first ball and Phil Newport run out off the fifth but Rhodes continued to scramble for an undefeated 37.

Derbyshire are now likely to suffer a fourth successive elimination at the zonal stage, but Worcestershire, after an opening setback against Yorkshire, can aspire to a place in the quarter-finals.

Their victory, achieved in a moment of glory with Sheriyar's angled drive past backward point, had promised to be more measured when Graeme Hick moved serenely to his first half-century of the season.

It was assembled in stands of 60 or more with Tom Moody and Gavin Haynes, but two simple return catches for Kim Barnett threw everything into disarray until Rhodes and Stuart Lampitt chipped away towards the 80 runs required from 13 overs.