Woakes took 2 for 38 and hit an unbeaten 13 out of five balls to bring the Bears to 161 for 7 in response to the Falcons 160 for 8
Derby: Derbyshire Falcons 160-8, Birmingham Bears 161-7 – Birmingham wins with three wickets
Scorecard
English all-rounder Chris Woakes made his first appearance of the season by leading the Birmingham Bears to a three-wicket win over Thebyshire Falcons in the Vitality Blast game in the Derby.
Woakes took 2 for 38 and hit an unbeaten 13 out of five balls to bring the Bears to 161 for 7 while the Falcons got 160 for 8.
Finn Hudson-Prentice scored 41 out of 22 balls for the Falcons, while Dan Mousley scored 56 out of 40 for the Bears, who won with an over to margin.
Luis Reece got the Falcons moving by driving Danny Briggs for six but then topping a swing on the next ball.
Woakes was pulled by Harry Came for six, but he shattered his stumps with the next ball as the Falcons were limited to 47 for two at the end of the power play.
Billy Godleman cut Jake Lintott to the point and Matt Critchley put Carlos Brathwaite in the same position before Leus du Plooy drove Lintott too long.
The Bears had cut Derbyshire down from five overs to 26, but missing fields and a missed trip that pardoned Hudson-Prentice at 21 helped the Falcons achieve a competitive score.
Hudson-Prentice drove Craig Miles for six and carved him in the 18th over for four but was pulled out on the next and after Brooke Guest Brathwaite drove to reverse, Michael Cohen finished the innings by raising Woakes for six.
The Bears got off to a bad start and lost to Pieter Malan, who captured a pair in the Derby championship game, and caught a duck ahead of Logan van Beek in the first round.
Ed Pollock was brilliantly caught in the middle by Godleman while diving and when Will Rhodes was caught on the leg side of George Scrimshaw the bears were 20 for 3 after four overs.
Undisciplined bowling got the bears back on track, with Sam Hain Hudson-Prentice for six in an over that cost 14 but didn’t take long.
The Falcons regrouped and although Mousley hit his 50 by hooking Scrimshaw for six, Critchley had long caught him ditching the bears that took 35 out of the last four.
Critchley took a fine dive for a long time to remove Michael Burgess for 22, and although Brathwaite got deep into Midwicket, Woakes hit van Beek for six and four to settle it.
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