Sussex Sharks Metro Bank Cup at Welbeck CC, John Fretwell Sporting Complex Win 2 pts

 

26/07

RECORD CENTURIONS GUIDE NOTTS TO VICTORY OVER INEXPERIENCED SHARKS

Fletcher and Pettman star with the ball

Unbeaten centurions Ben Slater (107 off 125 balls, 14x4) and Haseeb Hameed (101 off 116 balls, 8x4, 1x6) made lightwork of a modest target at Welbeck today. Notts cruised home by 8 wickets and 50 balls to spare against an inexperienced Sussex team, to record their first Metro Bank Cup win this season at the second attempt.

Sussex won the toss and elected to bat. Seemingly unbeknown to the Martlets Welbeck always helps the seamers early doors and this decision played into Notts’ hands. Hutton and Pettman came into the Eleven and gave Notts some bowlers who could bowl line and length which is crucial at this venue. Left went were Rob Lord and Farhan Ahmed.

Fletcher (Spion Kop End) and Hutton opened up and bowled accurately, Hutton looking a lot fitter compared to his loosener at Lincoln last Sunday. Tom Clark (14) was caught behind by Moores off Hutton, 19 for 1 in the 6th over. Sussex 33 for 1 off 10 overs at the end of the powerplay.

Fletcher had Haines (14) caught behind by Moores; 33 for 2 in the 11th over. Fletcher's opening spell was 7 2 24 1 with nine of them off his seventh over. Pettman replaced him and kept it equally tight with the Sussex batsmen struggling to accelerate. Hutton (10 0 41 1) bowled his overs straight through. Sussex 69 for 2 off 20 overs.

James was introduced from the Charlie French End for the 22nd over. In the following over Pettman took two wickets in two balls. First Oli Carter (23) spooned him to Hameed at mid-on. Simpson, often a thorn in Notts side, went first ball lbw to the Oxford graduate, 87-4 after 23 overs. Undoubtedly, the key wicket of the innings. Pettman went for 11 in his next over, Sussex 104-4 after 25 overs.

After bowling 2 overs for 14, James made way for Patterson-White and he dismissed Ibrahim (5) caught at slip by Montgomery with his second delivery; 104 for 5. Pettman after an accurate spell of 7 1 26 2 was replaced by James from the Spion Kop End. Henry Rogers (13) was caught off Patterson-White by McCann running back from mid-off; 123 for 6 in the 32nd over. Sussex all at sea but Hudson-Prentice and Bertie Foreman added 64 for the 7th wicket in 11 overs to bring Sussex some respectability.

A two for Hudson-Prentice off Patterson-White brought up his 50 off 71 balls in the 34th over. With James having problems with his line, Fletcher and Pettman returned for a solitary over each for the 35th and 37th overs respectively. Pettman was hit for six by Hudson-Prentice over mid-wicket bringing up the Sussex 150. James returned for the 39th over and conceded four, his next over went for 10 including a delivery that went for five wides. In the 43rd over, Hudson-Prentice guided James to Slater to the extra cover ropes; Foreman (13) thought there was two but was sent back whilst half-way down the pitch, Slater’s throw was relayed via James (9 0 57 0) to keeper Moores, with 20-year old player still well short; 187 for 7 in the 43rd over. Patterson-White bowling an unchanged spell from the Charlie French End finished with figures of 10-0-35-2. Fletcher returned and had Lenham (2) caught behind by Moores; 198 for 8 in the 46th over. Hudson-Prentice (90 off 109 balls, 9x4, 1x6) after hitting Pettman for successive boundaries fell to the following ball caught by James at mid-off, 214 for 9 in the 47th over. Two balls later, Karvelas (7) was the last man to fall pulling Fletcher to Pettman at short fine leg. Sussex 216 all out off 47.1 overs. Crocombe 2 not out. Fletcher (9.1-2-35-3) and Pettman (9-1-44-3) the star performers on a wicket ideally suited for line and length seamers. Notts gave away 19 wides including 10 by James.

Notts had what looked like an easy target against an inexperienced Sussex attack who like Notts fielded no overseas players. But Notts got off to a bad start. Slater hit the first delivery of the reply to the extra cover boundary off Karvelas (Charlie French End). Crocombe was his opening partner. McCann (2) clipped Karvelas straight to Crocombe at mid-on; 7 for 1 in the 3rd over. In the following over, Haynes was caught behind by Simpson off Crocombe for a 7-ball duck; 8 for 2 in the 4th over.

Slater got two boundaries off the 5th over bowled by Karvelas including a streaky one just over keeper Simpson’s head. Another seven runs came Slater’s bat in the Greek South African’s next over. Slater cover drove two boundaries off Karvelas in the 9th over. Notts 48 for 2 off 10 overs.

Bertie Foreman came on with his off spin for the 11th over. Hudson-Prentice (4 0 17 0) came on from the Spion Kop End in the 14th over and conceded six including a boundary for Slater. Ibrahim came on the 17th over. Slater got to his 50 off 54 balls in the 19th over with a single off Ibrahim. Notts moving steadily to their winning target, standing at 91-2 off 20 overs.

Leg-spinner Archie Lenham came on for the 22nd over with Notts reaching three figures via a single for Slater. Notts were now dealing mostly in ones. After bowling 4 overs for 27 Ibrahim made way for Foreman (8-1-30-0). Hameed reached his 50 off 69 balls with an edged four off Lenham 13 off the 28th over including a four for Slater. Notts 140 for 2 off 30 overs needing a further 77 in 20 overs. The game all but won.

Crocombe (8-1-32-1) was brought back for the 32nd over and bowled a maiden. Clark (2-0-16-0) was introduced for the 35th over and went for 10 including a four through mid-wicket by Hameed off a short ball. A four through mid-wicket by Slater off Karvelas saw him to his ton in 119 balls in the 39th over. Hameed hit a short ball for Karvelas (7-1-51-1) for 6 through mid-wicket. The next ball was lifted by Hameed into the same area, this time a one bounce boundary. Then hit straight aerial four of the third ball. Two balls later Hameed got to his 100 off 112 balls with a legside single. The winning run came in the following over with Hameed tapping Lenham (8.4 0 43 0) for a gentle single into the covers. Notts 217-2 off 41.4 overs. On an easing wicket, Slater and Hameed played the situation perfectly adding an unbroken 209 in 38 overs for the 3rd wicket. There was never any run rate pressure and these two batsmen were tailored made for the match situation. This third wicket partnership was a List A record for Notts beating the 204 by current Notts Academy coach Matt Wood and David Hussey versus Somerset at Trent Bridge in 2009 in a NatWest Pro 40 game which ended as a No Result. Slater controversially “retired out” two days previously has now scored 1,444 runs @55.53 in 30 List A matches for Notts.

Today’s Outlaws team had much stronger seam bowling than we saw at Leicester. Sussex had dropped a clanger by electing to bat in seamer friendly conditions which played right into Fletcher, Hutton and Pettman’s hands.

A massive plus today was to see Brett bowling in competitive action. How they have missed him.

Yorkshire will provide much stronger opposition on Sunday where you would expect today’s crowd of around 1,200 to be doubled. MAG

Squad: 

Farhan Ahmed

Luke Fletcher

Haseeb Hameed

James Hayes

Jack Haynes

Bretton Hutton

Lyndon James

Sammy King

Rob Lord

Freddie McCann

Matt Mongomery

Tom Moores

Liam Patterson-White

Toby Pettman

Ben Slater

Just like Captain Nemo, Peter Moores is steering Nottinghamshire CCC to new depths.

• This past week has seen Notts complete their worst campaign in T20 history, even worse than before it was The Blast.
• Lost to a "Minor" county
• Manufactured a means to lose four wickets in two deliveries, a world record that surely can't be beaten
• Selected an unbalanced side, not for the first, second or third time this season, that affected the need to bowl a 16 year old debutant spinner in the first powerplay, and gave some other poor bowler the unwanted Notts record of the most expensive bowling figures in Notts List A history. Yes the captain made a number of mistakes in his management of the meagre resources at his disposal, but he'd been put into an impossible position by the man that selected that team. 

Moores and Newell have had three years to get their heads around what the One Day Cup is, what players they won't have available and where they need to recruit to fill those gaps. In 2021, Sussex were forced to play more teenagers than your average youth club and were struggling, but now they've developed those younsters and are being highly competitive in all formats. Notts are still playing the blame game and lurch from one crisis to the next.

Does anyone at our once great club, plan beyond what's for breakfast?

Some good news from Welbeck; the cake stall has retained its place.

A regular rail service runs between Nottingham and the nearest stations to the John Fretwell Sporting Complex – Mansfield (4.1 miles), Mansfield Woodhouse (2.8 miles) and Shirebrook (1.7 miles).

Complimentary minibuses, provided by Welbeck CC, will convey supporters from Mansfield Railway Station to the John Fretwell Centre, meeting the following trains:

Friday 26 July: 9.01 and 10.01 arrival

Sunday 28 July: 8.45 and 9.48 arrival

Return times will vary, based on the match finsh time.

Local taxis from Mansfield Woodhouse station will allow you to complete your journey.