v Durham Dynamos FLT20 at Trent Bridge

Stokes plunders the Bridgford Road to grab victory

In front of Friday crowd of 9873 Notts suffered their third defeat in a week as Durham recorded a three wicket victory in a game not quite as close as the scorecard suggests.

This was an improvement on the display at Grace Road against stronger opposition but some of the same mistakes were made, the spinners were under bowled, too many extras were conceded and the batting order still needs tweaking with Hussey required to come in above Taylor to provide momentum to the middle overs of the innings. The injury to Wessels has clearly not helped matters, bur Read’s alarming drop in form is compounding the problems.

Hussey lost the toss on a baking hot night. Gurney came in for Ball compared to the previous Friday. 

Durham opened up with Smith and Breese, a smart tactic as Notts struggled against spin. Key man Michael Lumb fell leg before to Breese for just two. Patel came in and was the only Notts batsman to take advantage of short Bridgford Road boundaries scoring an excellent 33 off 19 balls but when he was out playing on to an Onions yorker, Notts were 54 for two in the seventh over, well placed to score the par score of 180 for the pitch.

Hales slowly getting back into form fell to a boundary catch off Pringle’s off breaks for a 31-ball 41, Notts were now 92 for three in the 12^th. Durham bowled 14 overs of spin and Notts were caught in the web. In a reprise of Leicester encounter, too many overs went by without boundaries. Hussey was bowled by Smith’s rarely seen off spinners for 10; it was now 115 for four. In the next over as the vice like grip continued, Mullaney (2) was run out backing up too far as Notts were now 123 for five, with 20 balls left. Read completely devoid of any form was leg before for a 3-ball single as Smith picked up his second wicket. The former Notts man finished with scarcely believably figures of 4-0-20-2. Finally the arrival of Butler saw some late runs as 29 runs were added in the final two overs. Butler finished on 11 not out and Taylor who was well caught in front of the Pavilion by Borthwick off the last ball of the innings made 54 off 43 balls with four fours and one six. Youngster Pringle had figures of 4-0-22-1 and Borthwick’s leg spinners went for 15 off three overs.

Notts’ total was 20 runs under par; Stoneman was bowled for 5 off the fifth ball of the innings. Gurney who was unexpectedly rested for the Grace Road game was bowling well and Borthwick fell leg before for seven. In his next over Gurney removed Will Smith (6) who skied to Butler. Durham finished the power play on 33 for three.   When danger man Mustard fell to excellent sliding catch by Hales in front of The Fridge off Mullaney, Durham were 44 for four in the ninth over. Notts were still in a game which they were expected to lose easily only 30 minutes earlier. Unfortunately left hander Stokes was in ominous form taking advantage of the short Bridgford Road boundary as he eventually hit five sixes. Mullaney normally such a reliable limited overs bowler is finding it difficult to be effective on the dry pitches of 2013, he was expensive again as his three overs went for 32. Patel was only given two overs as skipper Hussey bizarrely preferred to bowl his seamers despite what had happened during the Notts innings. White was belatedly introduced and removed Muchall to a diving catch by Lumb at backward point looking straight into the setting sun, 89 for five in the 14^th over. Gareth Breese came in and once again took a liking to Notts attack, as Hussey went back to his seamers with White on figures of 2-0-12-1. Stokes and Breese added 55 in four overs, and the match was now all but over. Breese fell to a fine diving catch by Taylor off Gurney, for a 14-ball 32. Durham only needed 15 off the last two overs, and after Ian Butler got Pringle leg before eight of the last over. They got there off the last ball as the final over was bowled by Hussey. Stokes was made man of the match after his 48-ball 72. Gurney had figures of 4-0-26-3 and Butler 4-0-23-1.

With Wessels indisposed and no second XI batsman showing any consistent form to warrant promotion the Notts team virtually picks itself. Notts now lie second in the group behind Lancashire and go to Leeds on Sunday searching a win to restore confidence. Not a good week for Notts. MAG