Midlands Mania Bears Vitality T20 Blast at Edgbaston Win 4 pts Report

 

ROCK ON TOMMY MOORES' SIXES SEAL SCINTILATING CHASE

Notts gained the most unlikely of wins at Edgbaston last night with a 6 wicket victory. It was attained via a six by Tom Moores off the very last ball of the game in a match containing 418 runs scored at 10.45 RPO. Indeed after brisk thirties from Clarke and McCann it was down to three unlikely heroes. 

Lyndon James - who obtained only his second ever T20 half-century. 

Daniel Sams who hit two sixes in the last over. 

Tom Moores himself who finally came good with a 33-ball unbeaten 74. His innings was his second highest for Notts in T20 cricket behind the 80* innings made versus Yorkshire at TB way back in August 2018 and his first half century for Notts in any form of cricket since scoring 94 in the championship against Kent at TB in July 2023. The innings he played last night was his 36^th where he had come to crease as a Notts batter since that Kent innings. For once the dot ball percentage was low only 5 (15%) taking advantage of a road of a pitch with short boundaries.

With Derbyshire beating Leicestershire in a high scoring encounter earlier in the day by 7 wickets - Samit Patel once again with a starring role, Notts knew if they lost the game they would be in bottom spot. They won the toss and elected to bowl. There was one change with Farhan Ahmed coming in to the Eleven for his T20 debut in place of Lord.

Notts kept it relatively tight in the powerplay. Davies hitting Sams (Pavilion End) for four through the covers, six off the first over. Davies (8) was bowled by Farhan's sixth delivery, attempting a cut shot; 11 for 1 after 2 overs. Pennington conceded two runs plus two leg byes in the third over. Mousley switch hit Farhan for six through third man, 10 off the 4th over. Latham hit Sams for four through long leg, 9 off the 5th over. Pennington went for three runs in the sixth over. Bears 37 for 1 at the end of the powerplay.

Mousley hit Farhan for a square leg six; seven off the 7th over plus a leg bye. Latham hit Montgomery for four through square leg; seven off the 8th over. Bears 52 for 1 off 8 overs. From this moment the wheels fell off with Notts bowling getting more ragged.

Latham hit James for an extra cover four and next ball for a boundary through backward square leg. Three balls later, Latham hit him for six in the same area. A cover driven boundary for four by Latham finished the over which went for 18. James only over of the evening. Mousley hit Montgomery for four through the covers and then for a mid-wicket boundary, 12 off the over. Bears 82 for 1 off 10 overs.

Latham hit Harrison's first two deliveries for a legside sixes to bring up his 50 off 29 balls. The next delivery went for four through long leg, 18 off the 11th over. Harrison like James did not bowl again,

Mousley hit Farhan. (4 0 32 1) for a straight six, 11 off the off spinner's last over. Latham hit Pennington for a six over square leg, 14 off the 13th over. With two left handers at the crease Notts had held back Patterson-White until the 14th over with him taking a wicket with his third delivery having Latham (69 off 39, 6x4, 4x6) caught by Harrison at deep square leg (127 for 2), five off the over. Mousley lofted Sams for four through mid-wicket. A single next ball saw Mousley to his 50 off 36 balls, 9 off the over. Bears 139 for 2 off 15 overs.

Hain had a rare failure against Notts when he was lbw to Patterson-White for 6 (139 for 3). Garton smashed his first delivery for six over long on. Garton (7) fell to the last delivery of the over caught by Montgomery on the mid-wicket ropes (147 for 4). Two wickets in the over for Patterson-White.

Mousley (53 off 40 balls; 3x4, 3x6) was caught in the covers by Clarke off Pennington (4 0 24 1; 149 for 5), five off the 17th over. Notts at this stage were relatively well placed with a par score of 190 based on the events of the afternoon game. However Bears scored 54 in the last 3 overs to what we thought was a winning total. 

Moeen hit Patterson-White (3 0 37 3) for consecutive sixes over square leg and long leg. Barnard then hit him for an extra cover boundary. Moeen hit the last delivery for six over mid-wicket; 24 off the 18th over. Barnard hit Sams (4 0 43 0) for six over mid-wicket. A straight four followed and a scoop for four. The last ball went a four over third man, 18 off the 19th over. Moeen hit Montgomery for six over long off but then turned down an easy single next ball. Moeen (34 off 12 balls, 1x4, 4x6) found the point ropes but then Montgomery (3 0 31 2) bowled him. Hassan was caught and bowled for a golden duck skying the ball into orbit. Bears 206 for 7 off 20 overs with Barnard on an 8-ball 23. Pennington had been the pick of the bowlers using the short ball well.

Clarke dominated the scoring in the initial phase of the powerplay. Garton (Pavilion End) was hit for a straight four by Clarke off the last delivery off the opening over which went for six. Garton never bowled again. Hassan Ali was hit by Clarke for two lofted boundaries through the covers. He then got a flukey four through backward square leg, 15 off the second over. Clarke hit Briggs for four through long leg, seven off the third over. Clarke hit Mousley for six over backward square leg but two balls later departed lbw for 30 (off 18 balls, 5x4, 1x6); 34 for 1 in the 4th over. James got completely bogged down by Briggs, just one off the 5th over. Haynes (2) fell leg before to Mousley (36 for 2). McCann started confidently hitting Mousley for fours through the covers and backward square leg. Notts 46 for 2 off 6 overs. Although they were nine runs ahead of the Bears at the comparative stage a win seemed unlikely with so many Notts batsmen out of form.

Barnard went for five off the 7th over. McCann hit Lintott for six and four through extra cover off successive deliveries, 14 off the wrist spinners only over. McCann hit Moeen for six over long off. James, starved of the strike, hit his first boundary in the 9th over,  a cover driven four off Moeen. McCann (32) attempting a reverse sweep was leg before to Moeen,  77 for 3 off 9 overs. Then came the match turning partnership between James and Moores who added 107 in 9.2 overs. The pitch was playing well with ball really coming onto the bat under the Edgbaston lights.

James hit Briggs for four through backward point, 6 off the 10th over. James hit Moeen (2-0-24-1) for a straight six, 12 off the 11th over. The scoring rate now increased. Moores hit Hassan Ali for 6 over square leg and then three balls later for a 6 over long leg, 16 off the 12th over. The Edgbaston crowd who expected an easy win were starting to get twitchy.

Moores hit Barnard for four and six through extra cover off consecutive deliveries, 16 off the 13th over. James guided Briggs (4-0-23-0) to the backward point ropes, eight off the 13th over. Notts 136 for 3 off 14 overs.

Moores hit Mousley for four through the covers. James then hit him for four through mid-wicket, 11 plus a leg bye off the 15th over. Notts had the momentum but Barnard only conceded four singles in the 16th over bowling in the block hole. The Brummies were cheering wildly and the announcer was getting increasingly  hysterical. A match turning over? No.

Hassan Ali was hit by the rampant Moores for six over extra cover and four through point to bring up his 50 off 24 balls. Moores finished the over with a straight four, 16 off the 17th over. Thirty nine required off 3 overs. Notts hanging in there.

James hit Mousley (4 0 44 2) for a straight four and then Moores hit him for six over mid-wicket,  16 off the 18th over. James got to his 50 off 38 balls. James skied a full toss in the air, Hassan Ali missing the caught and bowled chance but in the confusion James stumbled when turning back and failed to get back to the crease and was run out for 50 (off 40 balls, 5x4, 1x6; 184 for 4). He looked totally distraught, Notts needed 23 off 10 balls. Two balls later a terrible piece of fielding by Garton on the cover ropes gifted Moores a four – a routine stop somehow going through his legs. A crucial error, seven off the penultimate over. Hassan Ali who took 6 wickets against Derbyshire six days previously including a hat trick had gone for 53 in his 4 over spell.

Notts needed 16 off the final over which was bowled by Barnard (4 0 46 0) and two players who have made little impact in the Blast this season at the wicket. Sams hit the first delivery for a massive six over square leg. A single followed to long on. Moores hit a single off the third delivery. Sams hit a straight six off the fourth delivery – for the first time in the match Notts were favourites. After six and a half mediocre games at last he was making an impact. Sams then got a straight single off the fifth ball to level the scores. At 21:57, the last ball was bowled with Davies standing up. A six by Moores followed off a full toss which was deposited over long off at the City End. Notts 212 for 4 off 20 overs with Moores on 74 (off 33 balls, 5x4, 6x6) and Sams on 16 (off 6 balls, 2x6).

For the second time in a fortnight, Notts chased over 200 to gain an unlikely win over Warwickshire, this after three defeats in six days. Notts now lie 5^th in the standings. Next up Leicestershire at Grace Road on Thursday. MAG

14/06

No time for recovery, no time to regroup, not even time to dust ourselves off. The Silver Fox says "we'll adjust".

"That's the way it goes sometimes in T20 cricket". Yes Peter, you win lose some and you lose some (more).

The coach's post match interview focussed was on the captain and his batting - if only we had two Joe Clarkes eh. The execution of any plan from this line-up isn't happening and the banging it in short tactic isn't working 99% of the time, just look at the stats  - that "adjustment" needs to be drastic and immediate.

Pace off is a tried and tested means of winning for today's hosts at this venue, so perhaps Patterson-White might get more than twelve deliveries today for the Outlaws. 

Same squad I assume, so expect a similar eleven and a similar outcome.