Essex Eagles RLODC Semi Final at Chelmsford

OUTLAWS ON THEIR WAY TO LORD'S

A truly memorable game as Notts created English List A history by chasing down Essex's mammoth 370. After semi final defeats in 2014 and 2015, Notts have reach Lord's for the first time in four years. Superb hundreds from Patel and man of the match Steven Mullaney and a fine 62 Brendan Taylor were the bed rocks of Notts successful run chase. Having lost three wickets in the first powerplay Notts defied all the odds to get the victory with a three balls to spare. Worcestershire or Surrey await Notts on July 1st.

Essex won the toss and elected to bat. As expected Hales and Ball replaced Root and Fletcher; Notts for once had a full team to select from, but hard on Fletcher and Root who had both contributed enormously to get Notts to Lord's. Essex got off to a brisk start against Ball and Gurney. Gurney having bowled three overs for 23 from the Hayes Close End was replaced by Samit Patel. Cook got to 50 in 35 balls. Mullaney replaced Jake Ball and in his second over had Chopra (23 off 40 balls) caught behind by Read standing up, 87 for one after 14 overs. Ball had bowled five overs for 35. Tom Westley (33 off 23 balls; 5 x 4) added 49 with Cook in seven overs, before hitting a long hop from Patel straight to Taylor at short mid wicket. In the 29th over Broad got one to bounce a bit more and Bopara (16) edged him to Read, 175 for three. Cook and ten Doeschate added 96 runs in 13 overs. Cook got to his ton in 95 balls to thunderous applause. Broad bowled eight overs on the bounce for 44 runs to keep a check on the scoring, but the rest of his colleagues were now more expensive. One over from Mullaney went for 21. Ten Doeschate reached his 50 in 40 balls. Finally Alistair Cook top edged Patel to depart for 133 off 128 balls with 16 fours. Zaidi biffed 16 off ten balls before being caught by a diving Taylor at square leg, Broad the bowler, 295 for five. The last 32 balls of the innings were a disaster for Notts conceding a gargantuan 75 runs. Ten Doeschate got to his hundred in just 64 balls and finished with 102 off 66 balls (7 x 4, 5 x 6). The experienced James Foster was 27 not out off 16 balls. Gurney surprisingly preferred to Pattinson at the death, went for 38 runs off two overs, to finish with seven overs for 75. Not his best spell, but Essex batted well. The rest of the Notts bowling stood up relatively well. Broad the stand out with two for 56 with 10 overs and Patel despite the short straight boundaries two for 51 off nine overs; his night was far from complete.

Notts required 371 which if successful would have have been the highest in English domestic cricket. Hales and Lumb hit 21 off the first 10 balls. Lumb then got a leading edge off Porter and was caught at point for 11. Hales was trying to hit everything but then an ungainly swipe at a straight ball from Porter and bowled for a 21 ball 39 (7 x 4). The second wicket had added 52 in six overs. In his next over Porter picked up third wicket as Wessels tried to play a swipe shot and was bowled for 23, 80 for three. Porter impressed, bowling straight and also gaining movement.

Patel and Taylor batted sensibly and then upped the tempo. Taylor in particular looked in fine form with many runs behind the wicket. Taylor got to his 50 in 39 balls. Patel played a cut shot behind the wicket off Harmer but he did not respond to Taylor's call and Patel stood his ground. Taylor kept on running and was run out for 62 off 46 balls with seven fours and one six, 180 for four. A hundred partnership in 15 overs. But this was just the start; Mullaney and Patel used the short straight boundaries to great effect as they added 185 in 24 overs for the fifth wicket to silence the home crowd. Bopara bowled well conceding just seven runs in three overs mid innings, but the rest of the bowling was put to the sword. The Notts contingent numbering around 50 were jumping for joy as Patel reached is hundred in 106 balls and Mullaney in 71 balls, Mullaney's first in List A cricket; what a time to break the barrier. With just six needed Mullaney edged a brisk bouncer from Wagner into Foster's gloves to leave to a standing ovation from the partisan but sporting Chelmsford crowd. His 111 came off 75 balls with eight sixes and five sixes, including one off Bopara over long on to bring his ton. There was a minor panic as Read failed to score off his first three balls. Patel won the game with two fours behind the wicket off Walter to scenes of great jubilation. He finished with 122 not out of 123 balls with 12 fours. Notts won by 5 wickets with three balls to spare. After the run fest at Taunton we had another one here with 743 runs scored for 10 wickets lost A truly memorable few weeks. Well done all. This game along with Tuesdays will live long in the memory. MAG

One headache for Peter Moores, how do you accommodate Alex Hales and Jake Ball into the Outlaws line-up that hit 429 runs in the Q/F?. 

Alex Hales
Michael Lumb
Riki Wessels
Samit Patel
Brendan Taylor
Steven Mullaney
Chris Read
James Pattinson
Stuart Broad
Jake Ball
Harry Gurney

Will have to be his eleven plus

Billy Root
Luke Fletcher
Greg Smith