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OUTLAWS POWER OVERCOMES DIFFICULT PITCH
Notts beat visiting Leicestershire Foxes by five wickets with five overs to spare on a two paced pitch on a cool and windy night. They remain in top spot in the Northern Section. Dan Christian was named man of the match following up a 4-over spell that went for 21 with 33 not out off 25 balls (3x4,2x6) to see Notts over the line. Notts gave an good all-round performance with the ball with Imad Wasim who came in the unlucky Matt Carter taking 2-24 and Jake Ball 2-17 having the best figures. Notts clearly attempting to improve their net run rate batted somewhat unevenly but the Leicestershire bowlers bowled too many four balls to aid the run chase. Nash departed for a 3 ball duck, then Hales provided an explosive cameo of 44 off 16 balls, as Notts finished the power play on 62-2. Clarke had a nightmare of an innings swishing and missing and being badly dropped twice and Moores and Duckett were both out to quite awful strokes. Mullaney joined his skipper to knock off the remaining 21 runs in 12 balls.
Leicestershire won the toss and elected to bat on a wicket that was two paced and took some spin. Imad Wasim (Pavilion End) bowled the first over and conceded just a single. Dearden reversed swept Patel to the boundary in the second over which cost 6 runs. Off the fourth ball of the third over a slower delivery from Ball fooled Dearden (6) who spooned the ball to Clarke at deep square leg, 8 for 1. Lilley hit the last ball of the over to the ropes, 13 for one after three overs. Irish international Gareth Delany hit Imad for 4 over extra cover, two balls later he hit him for four through backward point. Next ball he then straight drove the Pakistani for 4, 12 off the over. Delany hit Patel for six over long on and the next ball was leg glanced Patel for 4. A full toss from Patel was well caught by Mullaney at short fine leg as 23 year old Dubliner Delany (25) attempted to sweep the slow left-armer, 36 for two off 5 overs. Fletcher conceded three from the last over of the power play.
Christian went for seven in the seventh over including a boundary from Ackermann. The Leicester skipper then blasted the ball back to Mullaney who took a sharp caught and bowled effort, 53 for three after 8 overs. Mullaney who went for seven off the over, did not bowl again. Ackermann gone for 10. A terrible mix up between Lilley and Rhodes saw Rhodes (1) going for a second run being sent back but he failed to make his ground as Clarke threw from deep point to Moores who then relayed it to bowler Christian who took off the bails, 55 for four, four off the over. Ball conceded six singles off the next over, 63 for four off 10 overs.
Lilley blasted Imad through extra cover for four. Next ball the juggling Nash at short fine leg caught Lilley (22) at the third attempt stretching out his hand as he parried the ball to himself, 69 for five. Patel (3-0-24-1) conceded seven off the 12th over and Christian seven off the 13th over. Lewis Hill (14 off 17 balls) never really got going and was out tamely lofting Ball to Duckett at mid on, 84 for six. Ben Mike hit the returning Fletcher for four through extra cover. Mike lost his off bail in the same over, bowled Fletcher for 8, 95 for seven. Christian (4-0-21-0) conceded four in the 16th over. Taylor hit Fletcher for a leg side six, 11 off the over. A ball from Imad (4-0-24-2) stopped and popped in the pitch and Taylor (19) hit the ball straight back to the bowler, 113 for eight. The economical Ball (4-0-17-2) went for two singles in the penultimate over. Fletcher (4-0-28-1) conceded five off the last over. Leicestershire 123 for eight off 20 overs Parkinson 12 not out and Davis 4 not out.
Callum Parkinson (Radcliffe Road End) almost bowled Nash first ball but got his revenge two balls later as Nash attempting an airy drive missed the ball, 0 for one. A short ball from the slow left armer was hit to the point ropes by Clarke, five off the over. Clarke hit Taylor's first ball for a leg side four but the next five balls were dot balls as Clarke kept missing the ball outside off stump. Ackermann was driven on the back foot through extra cover for four. Clarke on 9 top edged Ackermann to deep square leg and was badly dropped by Delany. Hales hit the next ball for six into The William Clarke Stand, 23 for one after three overs.
A short ball from Griffiths was despatched for a massive leg side six in the second tier of the Fox Road Stand. Hales then hit the former Lancashire man for successive fours, 17 off the over. Clarke lofted the returning Parkinson for a boundary through extra cover, five off the extra cover. Hales hit the leg spinner Delany for six into The Fridge and next ball an exocet through the covers powered over the ropes. A full toss from Delany was hit for a leg side six but Hales was out next ball caught at wide long on by Taylor off Delany, 17 off the over but a wicket, 62 for two at the end of the power play. Hales 44 off 16 balls (4x4,4x6).
Duckett hit Mike for four through deep mid wicket. Clarke on 19 was badly dropped once again, this time by Taylor at point off Mike, 70 for 2 off seven overs. But Taylor redeemed himself, when Clarke (19) got a bottom edge to him and was caught behind by Hill, 71 for three. Clarke never looked in on the two paced wicket. Moores played a dreadful shot, pulling a slower ball from Mike and spooning the ball to Delany at cover, 74 for four. Taylor bowled six dot balls and a wide in the 10th over. Taylor finished with figures of 3-0-7-1 as Notts stuttered mid innings following Hales dismissal.
Christian hit Mike (3-0-21-1) for six over wide long off. Three balls later Christian hit him for four through wide long on, 13 off the over. Parkinson conceded eight off the next over, including a boundary from Duckett off the last ball. A short ball from Delany was pulled for four by Christian. Duckett (14 off 18 balls) attempting a switch hit played a ball from Delany on to his leg stump, 103 for five off 13 overs. A full toss from Parkinson (4-0-25-1) was swept for a leg side four by Christian, seven off the over. Delany (3-0-37-2) bowled the 15th over and hit for four by Mullaney and six over long on by Christian. The captain then hit the winning single, Notts 124 for 5 off 15 overs. Christian 33 not out, Mullaney 7 not out. Not a vintage batting effort on an indifferent surface but Notts had increased their net run rate over second placed Lancashire. MAG
Both Leicestershire and Yorkshire are still very much in this Competition.
ReplyDeleteI am both pleased and horrified at Notts good start. Strange ? Well the horrified bit is because it will reinforce management's view that the Dad's Army approach is justified. There is no future in it, even if Notts were to win the Blast and the final BWT match
ReplyDeleteEvery other county has 4 or 5 kids. They will get better as Notts get worse, if we continue with this myopic short termism.
With the signing of yet another spinner, I hope LPW etc realise there is no future at the Old People's Home of Trent Bridge (I am old, so not ageism) and finds another county
Public opinion or members opinions counts for little with the committee or Peter Moores.
DeleteI don't think LPW is on the Blast radar. If Joey Evison were fit would he be in the Blast team? I would like to think that he would be but doubt it somehow.
Surely the BWT final match will be the time to give the youngsters a chance to shine? What have we got to lose?
ReplyDeleteHowever the Blast 20 matches seem to need players with experience. If Notts carry on in the same vein in the Blast Comp then P M will carry on with the tried and trusted approach. Its early days , but it would give the players and Management a much needed boost if we could get to the Final and actually win it.
Of course deeper problems in the Club will remain but it would be nice for the Notts fans to have something to cheer about and rescue a wretched season of Coronavirus cancellations and restrictions
SO COME ON NOTTS- ANOTHER VICTORY TONIGHT!
You are right.
DeleteThere is rain about tonight but it looks to be passing South of Nottm -so we should see a full 40 over match tonight .
ReplyDeleteWho will P M leave out ? Not old faithful campaigner Samit surely ! A cracking number 8 to come and rescue a situation .
Last time at TB Samit only bowled 2 overs and is yet to bat - he is the obvious candidate under threat as who else would PM drop?
DeleteCarter! Didn’t see that coming. Not sure if it is injury or rotation.
ReplyDeleteGood start though.
I assume he had a politically induced back spasm.
Delete2 skippers seem to have it in hand
ReplyDeleteRemain loyal to both, despite some general concerns I may have referred to now and again
Notts sudden sharp change of form between formats illustrates that a lot of modern cricketer’s real long term ambitions are in the white ball game. They merely go through the motions in championship cricket nowadays because they have too until a franchise or two come calling after they do the business in competitions like the Blast.
ReplyDeleteValid comment ONLY NOTTS.
ReplyDeleteAre players now saving their best performances for the potential riches and glory of White Ball only cricket!
A four day game in adverse conditions can take an awful lot out of any player
Far easier to concentrate on four or five overs in a Blast game as opposed to bowlling 20/30 overs per innings in a four dayer. Same goes for the batters. A quickfire slog of 60 + runs from 30 balls gets you the cheers and the headlines.
Those of us who love the four day format are now probably in the minority. The costs now of staging one must now outweigh the gate attendance income.
You do really wonder what the future holds for cricket. Its a fast changing world and the days of flasks and sandwiches and fans watching a game lasting 24 hours or so ( 4 x 6 hours) must be on the way out over time?
Cruetking, you could be right
ReplyDeleteThe only thing is 4 day golf tournaments and Le Tour suggest there can be an appetite for more subtle and long lasting events.
The County Championship has also been hurt by poor scheduling, completely missing weekends and BHs sometimes, and negative promotion by ECB
In England and Australia (the latter really only for Ashes Tests now) Test cricket remains prosperous. And that is the longest format
For sure the World wants, or is told it wants, everything now. Zoom, Netflix , Apps , but will there be a reaction against that ? Is everything now so instantly exciting , there is no excitement at all. A 6 or "maximum" predictable and therefore dull ?
It's hardly a sudden change in form. We've been pretty average in red ball for a number of seasons now. The players are not saving themselves, in my opinion, it's just that we've assembled a squad(by design or accident)more capable of competing in white ball cricket. It would be interesting to know if the hierarchy have changed their focus however. When Teflon Mick was still the Head Coach he always was at pains to point out his main focus was always red ball championship cricket. Also, you've got to be exceptional to just play white ball franchise cricket. The more average players can't just choose it as a career lifestyle. I note the Baz detractors have gone rather quiet..........
ReplyDeleteThe Baz detractors have all gone quiet
Didn't mean to state it twice !!!!!
DeleteNo one can deny that Alex Hales is wonderful to watch when in full flow !
ReplyDeleteHe can turn a game around in a few overs.
A Notts white ball side without him in it is just not the same .
But with the looming delicate financial plan that Notts need to work on for next season I just wonder if there is room on the reduced staff numbers for white ballers only ?
Notts have two players on White Ball only contracts - Hales and Gurney .
Anyone know how this compares to other Counties ?
In fact how many White Ball players are employed by all 18 Counties ? This is only the home produced type of player and NOT the imports brought in for a few games .
A final question .Will this curtailed season be considered a successful one for Notts if they reach the final of the Blast 20 Comp -taking into account they didnt win a Bob Willis County match ( assuming that Notts dont win the 4 day match against Durham starting this Sunday ).
Which format nowadays is the one most aimed for to illustrate "success?"
Will this curtailed season be considered successful with those assumptions?
DeleteOf course it will be spoken of in terms of success. Peter Moores is good at "taking positives" - and they will be that we probably should have beaten Derbyshire, were in the match vs Yorkshire until the last innings, were robbed by the weather vs Lancs and Leics.
He will then point to the form of Slater, the century from Duckett, the 100 in the T20 from Clark, Samit's contributions lower down the order, Hameed settling in etc.
Whilst these are all true, we face going into 2021 with a threadbare seam attack, 2 ageing players who are not quite good enough with bat or ball (Trego and Mullaney), hardly any opportunities for the younger players (although we dont know the team vs Durham yet), and still no victory for ages in the Championship. For me at best 2020 BWT has papered over the cracks.
To end on a positive though, for me the T20 success so far was unexpected. I thought the team was a bit stale and past its best. I thought DC coming back for one more season was one season too many etc etc. So far so good though in this format
Astonishing innings by Hales. Shocking innings by Clarke. Bowlers did well obviously. We are a very good one day side (though, as I have said before, not as good as the hierarchy would have us believe when trying to assuage our discomfort and worse at how bad a first class side we are).
ReplyDeleteYes Jim G - I thought the same as you . Dan Christian being invited back to captain the side in the Blast was the wrong decision . I thought his bowling had " gone" and his quickfire scores of 50+ were getting few and far between . He has hardly played any cricket this year and having a long break has obviously done him good and he looks now the right guy to captain the team.
ReplyDeleteI will not be at all surprised if Notts reach the final two in the Blast this year.They seem to be playing pretty well as a team and no doubt Dan C has had the right impact. The next 4 day match starting tomorrow will be pretty revealing . It looks like decent weather for the 4 days so we should get a result!
The Law of Averages states sooner or later we have to win a 4 day game
So this is the last chance to win one this year - so go to it Notts !
Durham are not a strong side - we should beat them !