Outlaws bounce back against Northamptonshire
Notts cruised to the easiest of victories over a disappointing Northants side; the winning margin of six wickets was achieved with 46 balls unused.
Following the disappointing performance the previous Thursday the Nottingham public voted with their feet with a paltry 2,805 crowd in attendance. Northants won the toss and elected to bat. With Ian Butler no longer available and Graeme White dropped, Steve Mullaney and Ajmal Shahzad returned. The side had a much more balanced look and crucially a shorter tail.
David Willey looked in fine form hitting Shahzad and Gurney for sixes but with the score of 38 Kyle Coetzer (12) chipped Jake Ball straight to Patel in the covers. Three overs later Willey (29) hit Shahzad to long on where Hussey took the catch on the run. Sales (19) who hit a double ton last week was then bowled by Patel, 72 for three in the 15th over as Northants were struggling for momentum. Cameron White and Alex Wakely added 59 runs in 13 overs, the Australian played a Cowanesque innings with too many dot balls; he eventually departed for a 29-ball 52 hitting Mullaney straight to Patel in the covers. Forty runs were added in the next seven overs until Shahzad bowled a maiden in the batting power play. Crook (24) was caught behind in the first ball of the over and off the fifth ball Matt Spriegel was bowled, 171 for 6 with just five overs left. Alex Wakely lone hand was eventually ended as the Northants captain lofted Ball straight to Mullaney; his 59 came off 52 balls with four fours and two sixes. Middlebrook became Balls’s third victim and Daggett was bowled off the last ball of the innings as Northants closed on 205 for nine, 30 to 40 runs under par. Ball (3-33) and Shahzad (3-40) both picked up three wickets and Mullaney trusted a lot more with the ball by Read than Hussey was back to his economical best with 8-0-34-1; Patel was once again disappointing with 5-0-30-1 and Hussey bowled the remainder of his allocation.
Willey bowled five wides in the opening over as Notts got to a fast start. Lumb and Hales added 64 in 58 balls before Lumb was bowled by a good ball from Daggett for a 33-ball 36. Taylor was struggling for bat power off the pitch and after scampering five singles ran himself out following a suicidal single to mid on. Hales and Patel added 81 in 11 overs as Northants bowling was made to look decidedly ordinary. Patel then went for one big shot too many holing to long off as Crook took the catch off Middlebrook’s off breaks; his 37 came off 33 balls with five fours. Hales highest List A score of the summer was then ended as became a rare victim for Coetzer hitting him straight to Wakely at extra cover. His 75 came off 71 balls with eight fours and two sixes; let’s hope for a return to form in red ball cricket from big right hander next week. Hussey (23*) and Wessels (17*) saw Notts over the line for a routine win. Azaharullah the leading Twenty/20 wicket-taker had an afternoon to forget with 4.2-0-38-0 as Northants appeared to have one eye on next Saturday’s baseball jamboree. Notts now have eight wins from nine 40 over fixtures; another win should see semi-final qualification and two would ensure a home semi-final. Worcestershire are next up tomorrow in a floodlit encounter. MAG
......................................................................................................................................The Outlaws on the road to retribution after Thursday's debacle have announced a twelve man squad that includes 10 of that 11:
Alex Hales, who is personally, publicly, shouldering the blame for the QF failings.
Michael Lumb
Samit Patel
James Taylor
David Hussey
Riki Wessels who now has had the wire that was supporting his broken finger removed.
Steven Mullaney now with the added dimension of bowling off-spin
Chris Read
Graeme White
Ajmal Shahzad
Jake Ball
Harry Gurney
The eleventh man from Thursday is of course Ian Butler who has now completed his services for Outlaws - value for money?
I'm of the opinion that he was an emergency panic signing to cover Andy Carter - Butler was no better than the 2012 Carter but was streets better than the Carter that we saw earlier this season. It does beg (again) the question about why we have Brett Hutton on the books at all.
Patto Retires
Former England, Nottinghamshire, Outlaws, Victoria and Melbourne Renegades Darren Pattinson, the tiler born in Grimsby, has announced his retirement from professional cricket to pursue a career breeding and training greyhounds. Patto will remain involved with Dandenong CC, coaching and playing for the Premier league club, however
The Sticklebacks that are likely to be swimming-up to Trent Bridge for Sunday's YB40 are:
Willey,
Coetzer
Wakely,
White,
Sales,
Crook,
Spriegel,
Middlebrook,
Murphy,
Daggett,
Azharullah
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