Worcestershire Rapids Vitality T20 Blast at Trent Bridge - Loss Report

RAPIDS DOMINATE AGAINST WOEFUL OUTLAWS

Worcestershire gained an emphatic 56 run victory over Notts last night to maintain their unbeaten run in the competition. On a sunny evening with a north easterly blowing, Steven Mullaney put Worcestershire in on a peach of a pitch, a decision which well and truly backfired. Notts brought back McKerr for Brooks. McKerr bowled three overs of dross to go for 46 but he was not alone only Mullaney (4 –0-28-2) coming out with any credit. Worcestershire raced to 82 for 0 in the powerplay, Worcestershire skipper Brett D’Oliveria led the way with 44, and 4-11 with the ball devouring the carcass of the Notts batting effort. Worcestershire eventually reached 226 for 5. Hales and Clarke got Notts to 58 off 4.5 overs but following Clarke’s dismissal Hales was left to do all the heavy lifting until being dismissed for 71 off 56 balls (8x4, 3x6). Batsmen 3 to 8 all being dismissed for single figures. Shaheen Shah Afridi came in and blasted 4 sixes in a 11-ball 29 as Notts were dismissed for 179 with 10 balls unused. It had been a woeful night.

In front of a crowd numbering around 6,000, way down on Tuesday’s crowd, D'Oliveira hit the first two balls of the match from Afridi to the boundary (point, long leg), nine off the over. D'Oliveira hit Carter to the long leg ropes and next ball, six overs square leg 14 off the over. D'Oliveira hit McKerr for four through long off, nine off the over. Afridi returned and D'Oliveira hit him to the point boundary. D'Oliveira was dropped on 31 by Munro in the covers off Afridi. The Pakistani was no balled for having three men out the circle. Bracewell hit the free hit to the third man boundary, 15 off the over. James was given an off timetabled powerplay over, Bracewell hitting him for four through extra cover and then D'Oliveira hit him for a straight six. D'Oliveira then hooked James for 4, the over costing 18, he did not bowl again. Bracewell hit two short deliveries from McKerr for legside sixes. He then hit him for four through long off, 21 off the over. Worcestershire 87 for 0 after 6 overs.

Bracewell hit Patel for successive boundaries (long leg and straight). Patel removed D'Oliveira (44) via a catch at backward square leg by Munro, 98 for 1 in the 7th over. Bracewell reached 50 off 22 balls with a single off Mullaney, seven off the 8th over. Haynes swept Patel for 4 and then found the extra cover ropes, 10 off the over. Bracewell, making room, lost his leg stump to Carter for a 27 ball 55, 116 for 2 in the 10th over. Santner survived an easy stumping chance on 2, Moores failing in take the ball cleanly off Carter and the ball rebounding into the covers, a bye was run. Santner (6) was caught and bowled by Mullaney running to his left and the ball gently hit back for 6, 125 for 3 in the 11th over. Haynes reverse swept Mullaney for 4, 9 off the 11th over. Six runs came off the 12th over bowled by Carter including wide, a leg bye and a bye. Hose hit a short ball from Patel to the mid-wicket ropes. Haynes then hit him for 6 over square leg and a 4 to mid-wicket 18 off the 13th over. Carter (4-0-37-1) was hit for 6 over mid-wicket by Haynes and then a four by Hose, 14 off the 14th over. Hose hoisted Mullaney for 6 over long on. Haynes (42 off 25 balls, 4x4, 2x6) perished caught by a well-judged catch on the run at extra cover by Montgomery, 178 for 4 off 15 overs. The 4th wicket between Haynes and Hose had added 53 in 4.2 overs. Patel with X-rated figures one more (4-0-45-1) had only conceded five off his last over. In this year’s Blast he is currently conceding runs at 9.88 RPO compared to his pre-2023 career Blast tally of 7.30 RPO, something to feed into the Notts analyst’s computer!

Mullaney (4-0-28-2) bowled a wide to Kashif who then had five dots and then ran a single, two off the over, 185 for 4 off 17 overs. Any hope of a last Notts comeback were extinguished with another 41 runs coming off three overs. Afridi bowled the 18th over and Kashif (10) hit him for 6 over square leg but he was dismissed next ball hitting a slower ball into orbit, Mullaney catching him in the covers, 193 for 5 in the 18th over. Hose hit McKerr for 6 over square leg to bring up the Worcestershire 200. Hose then hoisted McKerr for 6 over long on, McKerr's 3 overs cost 46, 17 off his last. The loan signings have been a sadly predictable disaster, a short-sighted panic decision when some of the youngsters should have been given a chance, it sent all the wrong signals.

Afridi was scooped for 6 by Hose over long leg. Hose got to his 50 off 26 balls with another scooped boundary off Afridi (4-0-45-1), this time the ball going to third man. Afridi currently conceding his runs at 9.05 RPO in the Blast, the Eagle yet to soar!

Worcestershire 226 for 5 off 20 overs, Hose 51 not out and Pollock 1 not out. Mullaney apart total carnage, not helped by some pretty dire leaden feet ground fielding from the aged Notts team.

Pennington (Radcliffe Road End) conceded four off the opening over.. Hales hit Santner for four through extra cover, but only five runs off the 2nd over. Notts then hit back scoring 67 runs in 4 overs. Finch's opening delivery was hit by Hales over extra cover. Next ball was a four towards long on. Clarke hit Finch for 6 over long on. The sixth ball was a six by Hales over extra cover, 22 off the 3rd over. Hales hit Bracewell to the point ropes and then for a six over long off. Clarke then found the point ropes off the off spinner, 17 off the over. Notts reached 50 in 25 balls as Clarke got two off Pennington. Clarke was dropped on 21 by the overstretched hand of D’Oliveira who covered a lot of ground to try and obtain a spectacular catch, the ball going for 4 towards long on. Clarke then scooped a four, but Clarke’s (25) luck ran out then guided Pennington to Bracewell at backward square leg, 58 for 1 off 5 overs. Hales hit Brown's opening delivery to the point boundary. A wide followed then Hales hit Brown for a through fine leg. The third legitimate delivery was another four through point. Munro found the extra cover boundary, 17 off the over. Notts 76 for 1 off 6 overs.

Santner bowled the 7th over and conceded seven with Hales reaching his 50 off 21 balls with a couple off the Kiwi. Bracewell conceded 5 off the 8th over. Munro (9) holed out caught at long on by Kashif Ali off Brown, 88 for 2. Only 3 off the 9th over. Notts’ innings was to fall off the cliff with six wickets lost for 38 runs in 6 overs. There is far too much reliance on the top three.

Montgomery (4). was out reverse sweeping D'Oliveira caught by Bracewell at short third man, 93 for 3. Moores (6) hit D'Oliveira into The Fridge but perished next ball caught on the square leg ropes by Pollock as D'Oliveira picked up his 2nd wicket in the over, 99 for 4 off 10 overs.

Hales hit Santner for 6 over long on, 10 off the 11th over. Hales swept Bracewell for 4. James charged Bracewell and was bowled for 3, 115 for 5. Nine off the 12th over. Notts could only manage five singles off the 13th over bowled by Finch (3-0-34-0). Mullaney (4) was caught on the extra cover ropes by Hose off D'Oliveira, 123 for 6. Hales was caught on the extra ropes by Hose off D'Oliveira for 71, 126 for 7 after 14 overs. D’Oliveria 2-11 off his 2 overs. The play was now being accompanied by the non-stop clank of uplifting seats as the crowd were leaving the ground in their droves.

The 38-year-old Patel now at number eight and with his batting abilities now a pale shadow of his former self was dropped on 2 a caught and bowled chance to Santner. Afridi hit Santner (4-0-29-0) for 4 towards long leg, Finch misfielding the ball and letting the ball going over the ropes. A rare fielding error from the away team whose slick ground fielding performance was in complete contrast to the hosts. Afridi hit Bracewell (4-0-57-1) for successive sixes over square leg and mid-wicket. A wide followed then a straight six, 26 off the 16th over. Afridi fell to catch at fine leg by Pennington off Brown for 29, 160 for 8. Patel (4) fell two balls later caught behind by Cox, 161 for 9. Carter (3) and McKerr (5 not out) added a further nine before Carter top edged Brown (3.2-0-25-4) with Cox taking the catch on the dive running towards square leg. Notts 170 all out had been comprehensively defeated , their net run rate taking a beating. They currently lie seventh in the standings.

Without Duckett and Ball, the Notts performances have been mediocre with the bowling in particular being unacceptable. With Warwickshire and Lancashire to face this weekend some tough brave decisions have to be made and some thoughts on the long-term future need to be made, youngsters have to be given a chance over sub-standard loanees, The average age of the team needs bringing down. With Hales in the team, Notts are still capable of winning games but it is clear than any hopes of a home quarter final or actually winning the competition seem extremely highly unlikely. MAG

Peter Moores' squad:

Joe Clarke

Alex Hales 

Colin Munro 

Matt Montgomery

Tom Moores

Steven Mullaney

Lyndon James

Samit Patel

Matt Carter

Shaheen Afridi

Conor McKerr

Haseeb Hameed

Calvin Harrison

Jack Brooks

So no changes and no Jake Ball!

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YOU ARE THE COACH

Peter Moores has his critics. 

It would appear age is a consideration (for Peter) towards selection and if your age begins with the digit 3, then you're in it. 

Many have noticed that in the field Outlaws carry a lot of passengers and it's impossible to hide so many of the players whose specialty lies in their batting or their bowling and not in their moving across the ground at speed or the stopping of a ball.

Some might say, young Lyndon James is being under utilised currently - he's not bowling enough overs (about one per game) and bats too low in the order to make an impact where his style of batting would be effective. Being thrust into the finisher position isn't doing Lyndon nor Outlaws any favours. Where is the brute-force power hitting in this squad?

Others might ask, has Tom Moores returned too soon, does he bring enough into the side to deserve a place in the team in the first place? We can get swinging and missing from the tail-enders!

Assuming Jack Brooks has finished his Outlaws service after his generous bowling on Tuesday, where do we go from here?

Would you risk Jake Ball? Why has Calvin Harrison fallen out of favour - he's our best fielder after all?

What youngsters would you pick?

In the comments - you pick the team, you can even keep Jack Brooks in, he after all did bag a four-fer on debut, if you like.

Your chance to be Peter, until Pravda release the official squad....