Northamptonshire Steelbacks RLODC at Welbeck CC Loss

STEELBACKS SHOW SOME METTLE TO TAKE FIRST WIN

Outlaws Bowlers Having a Very Poor Day

In front of a large Welbeck crowd enjoying a very sunny day Northants beat Notts by 49 runs to register their maiden victory in any competition in 2018. It was a comfortable win for the away side who bowled much more accurately. Notts having won the toss surprisingly inserted Northants who were without Kleinveldt and Gleeson. Notts bowled poorly throughout the innings; bowling too short too often with the net result that Northants total was probably 30 over par. Cobb with 78 (90 balls; 7 x 4; 3 x 6) and Wakely 72 (68 balls; 6 x 4; 2 x 6) were the top scorers as Notts dismissed danger men Duckett and Levi relatively cheaply. Notts needed to get off to a good start but never really got a substantial partnership; Mullaney once again was the pick of the batsman with 71 off 61 balls but no other Notts batsman reached 50. The dismissal of Taylor and Wessels in successive overs in mid innings realistically ended the game as a contest.


An unchanged Notts won the toss and inserted Northants. The opening bowlers were Fletcher and Ball. After restricting to Northants to 15 off 6 overs; a bout of no balls helped Northants advance 33 runs off two overs including 21 off an eight ball from Fletcher. In the eighth over Ball got one to lift and hit the splice of Duckett's bat the ball ballooning to Wessels at point, 54 for one. Duckett had made 19. Samit Patel then replaced Fletcher from the Scoreboard End. Northants ended the first power play on 55 for one. Levi pulled a long hop from Patel over square leg for six. Next over Levi swiped Gurney for six over square leg. In Gurney's next over, Cobb hit him for straight six over long off. Northants got to their 100 in the 18th over. However, Levi mistimed a stroke from Gurney skying to Mullaney at long on. Levi 26 with one four and two sixes, 100 for two. But Cobb and Wakely continued to pile the runs in the sun as Mullaney rotated his bowlers to no avail. Wakely was dropped on 29 at mid wicket by Taylor off Jake Ball. The third wicket had added 83 when Cobb holed out to square leg ropes where Taylor took the catch; Root (3-0-27-1) the bowler. Cobb 78 with seven fours and three sixes. The 200 came up in the 35th over. Rossington now batting with his skipper as the boundaries kept coming. Fletcher who had conceded 46 off his first six overs returned and removed Wakely's middle stump the Northants skipper had made 72, Northants 248 for 4 off 40 overs, and they added a further 91 in last 10 overs. Rossington got to his 50 with an edged four off Fletcher. Next over the former Middlesex man fell caught at long off by Wessels off Patel. Rossington gone for 50 (39 balls, 6 x 4, 1 x 6), 261 for five. Patel 1 for 59 off 10 overs. A shortish ball from Fletcher saw Procter edge to Tom Moores for two, 271 for six. The young stumper had an untidy day behind the sticks. Fletcher though had an off day with the ball; his 10 overs costing 72. The 300 came up in the 44th over bowled by Ball which went for 20 including sixes for Hutton and Procter. Hutton was caught low down at short fine leg by Fletcher off Gurney for 15, 314 for seven. Graeme White was then caught at cow corner by Taylor off Jake Ball for one, 315 for eight. Ball solitary wicket had cost 73 runs. Gurney (9-0-57-2) conceded 17 in the last over including five byes. Buck run out off the last ball for 9. Crook hitting to very good effect with an unbeaten 45 off 28 balls (3 x 4, 2 x 6); Northants 339 for nine. A total of 11 sixes had been hit in the innings. Mullaney 8 overs for 39 should have bowled himself out.

Buck (Scoreboard End) and Sanderson opened the bowling. In the third over Nash was caught at deep mid wicket off Buck for eight, 16 for one. In the seventh over Moores hit Buck for a six over mid wicket in an over costing 13. Northants were bowling with a lot more control and Notts only scored 52 runs in the first power play. Hutton replaced Buck from the Scoreboard End. In the 12th over Sanderson was hit for a six over deep backward square leg by Moores. But the left hander fell the next over caught by Buck at mid off for 28 (29 balls; 1 x 4; 2 x 6), Hutton the bowler, 68 for two. Graeme White came on as the 100 came up in the 18th over. In his second over White bowled key man Ross Taylor for 20 and in the next over Wessels played on to Procter for 47 (54; 4 x 4), 115 for four. Notts were struggling. The 150 came up in the 28th over bowled by Buck and in the same over Mullaney hit a six over mid wicket. Mullaney and Patel added 62 for the fifth wicket in 11 overs. Patel (20) being caught at mid wicket by Hutton skying Graeme White (10-0-63-3). The required run rate was now well above eight an over. The 200 came up in the 36th over. With the required rate now 10 an over, Billy Root hit Procter for six over long on. Next over Mullaney hit White over cow corner for another six. Mullaney going for leg side hit was leg before to White for 71 (8 x 4, 2 x 6), 229 for six. A strange decision from the umpire Middlebrook; keeper Rossington hardly appealing. A further six runs had been added before Notts entered the third power play. Hutton dropped Root on 32 at long leg off Nathan Buck. Will Fraine was leg before for 6 as Buck picked up his second wicket, 244 for seven. Next over Root was bowled by Sanderson for 36 (34 balls; 2 x 4; 1 x 6). Ball was dropped on 0 a caught and bowled chance to Sanderson. Ball then hit the same bowler for 6 over mid wicket but perished for 13 hitting Sanderson to extra cover. There was a brief 20 ball 29 (2 x 4, 2 x 6) from the Bulwell Bomber to keep the crowd entertained but he holed out in front of the Pavilion off Hutton. The former Notts man was the visitor’s most economical bowler with 7.2 overs 2 for 37, grabbing his chance in one day cricket that was never really given him playing with the Green and Gold. Notts 290 all out with 22 balls unused. They had lost a game that they would have expected to win, giving Northants their first win of 2018, after a horrendous start for the season. MAG

The annual diversion to the John Fretwell Sports Complex, Sookholme near Mansfield, although we had better used to more of these in the future with multiple home games in places outside of Nottingham.

Outlaws have been handing out debuts like Royal Wedding confetti  so far this term, so it would be somewhat ironic to be playing against Brett Hutton, who left our club to play white ball cricket, only the day after the overly hyped royal nuptual event.

Jake Libby, 
Chris Nash, 
Steven Mullaney (c),
Riki Wessels, 
Harry Gurney,
Matt Milnes, 
Luke Fletcher,
Samit Patel, 
Tom Moores, 
Ross Taylor, 
Jake Ball, 
Will Fraine, 
Billy Root, 
Jack Blatherwick.

Welbeck CC released this:

Notts Outlaws Head Coach Peter Moores hopes the crowds will turn out in their numbers at Welbeck on Sunday (11am) as his side look to continue the good start to their Royal London One-Day Cup defence.

The 2017 champions are preparing to play their annual 50-over fixture in the north of the county having won a thrilling opening game at Lancashire last night (Thursday).

Notts made 318 all out at Emirates Old Trafford and then fought back superbly with the ball to restrict the hosts to 309-9 after they had been cruising on 245-3 at one point.

Now the Outlaws head up the A60 to take on the Northamptonshire Steelbacks aiming to maintain a 100 per cent record at the John Fretwell Complex, having beaten Warwickshire (2015), Derbyshire (2016) and Leicestershire (2017) in previous years.

“The crowds always come out at Welbeck and we’d love to see that again for this match,” said Moores. “It’s a different part of the county and we see different people, bringing a different atmosphere, which has contributed to us playing some good cricket.

“I think it is a good place for us to start where we have a good record and then we come back to Trent Bridge for later in the competition, which is somewhere that everyone knows.

“We’ve enjoyed playing up at Welbeck, which is a good pitch with good pace and good carry. It’s a nice thing to move around the county a little bit, and I’m sure it will be another enjoyable occasion.”

Notts are currently top of the Specsavers County Championship Division One table after their first five matches and are also current holders of the T20 trophy, the Vitality Blast, after a double white ball win last summer.

Former England coach Moores knows it is a tough ask to compete again on all three fronts, but insists it can done.

“We’ve enjoyed playing up at Welbeck, which is a good pitch with good pace and good carry.”

The Outlaws’ game at Welbeck is the second of eight North Group games they will play in a hectic schedule between now and June 7, with the top three qualifying for the knockout stages.

He said: “I think we treat all three formats of cricket the same in terms of importance. To win the Championship is an amazing achievement throughout the whole length of the season, particularly with the amount of effort and commitment it takes from the whole squad.

“But the Royal London is a huge tournament for us because of what it can bring if you make it through to the latter part of it. We had some really good games last year and had that special feeling of going to Lord’s for the final.

“It’s too far ahead for that yet, of course. We’re just looking to get into the tempo and the rhythm of it quickly and get the wins we need to get out of the group stages.”