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OUTLAWS PUMMELLED BY RECORD SMASHING BEARS
Warwickshire scored a ground record T20 score of 229 for five as they beat by Notts by 18 runs on a batsmen's paradise at Trent Bridge last night. On an absolute road, an unchanged Notts won the toss and inserted Warwick in front of a socially distanced 4,000 crowd. The visitors scored at a consistently high rate throughout the innings as, Matt Carter apart, no Notts bowler could put a break on scoring. Left hander Ed Pollock blasted 62 off 34 balls as the Bears raced to 120 in the 11th over. Hain dropped on 1 scored 43 not out off 28 balls. Player of the Match Carlos Brathwaite came in the 14th over and blasted 33 in 18 balls as Trego had a nightmare 19th over going for 31. Brathwaite hit four sixes in the over which included full tosses galore, one of which was no balled. Without last year’s two death bowlers, Ball and Christian and with Harry Gurney now retired, Notts need to quickly find a combination that can bowl in the closing part of an innings. Notts made a brave attempt at chasing the mammoth target. Hales once again failed against slow left arm, but with Duckett scoring 51 off 27 balls, Notts were actually marginally ahead of DLS par score at the halfway stage, but the target proved beyond them on an entertaining evening, where it was just good to see Trent Bridge alive and buzzing once more.
A poor start only got worse
Carter (Pavilion End) bowled an expensive first over which went for 13 including five wides and a boundary for Hose. Fletcher opened with a wide; Hose then hit a boundary through covers, 22 for 0 off 2 overs. Hose greeted Patel with a six through extra cover. Pollock hit Patel through point, 11 off the over. Paterson conceded seven in the fourth over including a four through backward square leg for Pollock. Hose hit Fletcher her for a massive six over mid wicket to bring the 50 in 26 balls. It was already apparent the pitch was an absolute belter. Hose departed leg before to Fletcher for 32, 51 for one off 4.3 overs. Fletcher went for 15 off his second over including two wides. Pollock hit Paterson for three successive fours through wide long on, midwicket and backward point, 70 for one after 6 overs.
Carter conceded eight off the seventh over including a boundary for Rhodes. Pollock launched Mullaney for a six into the Fox Road Stand., 12 off the captains sole over.Patel was hit for an extra cover boundary by Rhodes. Warwick 100 for one after 9 overs. The 50 partnership between Pollock and Rhodes was achieved in 29 balls. Pollock reached his 50 off 28 balls with a huge leg side hit off Trego into the Fox Road Stand, 12 off the over.
Game-plan thrown away
Rhodes hit Harrison for six over extra cover. Harrison got his revenge as Rhodes (18) was caught at deep mid wicket by Duckett, 120 for two in the 11th over, nine off the over. A quicker delivery from Carter bowled Pollock for 62 off 34 balls,123 for 3 in the 13th over, three off the over. Hain was crucially dropped on one a caught and bowled chance to Harrison. Mousley hit an offside four off the leg spinner, six off the over. Mousley top edged Carter (4-0-26-2) and Patel took the catch at short third man, 133 for four in the 14th over. Hain swept Patel (3-0-32-0) for a leg side six, 11 off the over. Brathwaite swept Harrison (3-0-30-1) for a fine leg boundary. Hain then hit him for a straight six, 15 off the over. Warwick 160 for four off 16 overs. The return of Paterson(3-0-44-0) saw Hain hit him for six and four through the leg side. Brathwaite then cover drove the South African to the ropes. Hain repeated the shot, 22 off the over. Fletcher returned as the 50 partnership came up in 21 balls. Hain hit Fletcher for four, nine off the over. In a desperate attempt to slow the Bears, Mullaney elected to bowl Trego instead of Paterson in the 19th over. The over went for 31, including an above waste high no ball, as right handed Brathwaite (remember the name!) launched into the former Somerset stalwart. The first three deliveries went for six over mid wicket, square leg and mid wicket(off a no ball). A dot ball followed then another square leg six, then a four through backward point. A single followed. The game, now seemed, out of Notts’ reach. Brathwaite fell to a catch at long on by Clarke off Fletcher for 44 (3x4,3x6), 222 for five. Hain got his 50 off 26 balls with two off Fletcher(4-0-39-2). Seven off the over, Warwick 229 for 5 off 20 overs. Hain 53 not out. This was a record score against Notts in the competition beating the 227-5 made by Yorkshire at Headingley in the opening game of the triumphant 2017 campaign.
Rhodes hit Harrison for six over extra cover. Harrison got his revenge as Rhodes (18) was caught at deep mid wicket by Duckett, 120 for two in the 11th over, nine off the over. A quicker delivery from Carter bowled Pollock for 62 off 34 balls,123 for 3 in the 13th over, three off the over. Hain was crucially dropped on one a caught and bowled chance to Harrison. Mousley hit an offside four off the leg spinner, six off the over. Mousley top edged Carter (4-0-26-2) and Patel took the catch at short third man, 133 for four in the 14th over. Hain swept Patel (3-0-32-0) for a leg side six, 11 off the over. Brathwaite swept Harrison (3-0-30-1) for a fine leg boundary. Hain then hit him for a straight six, 15 off the over. Warwick 160 for four off 16 overs. The return of Paterson(3-0-44-0) saw Hain hit him for six and four through the leg side. Brathwaite then cover drove the South African to the ropes. Hain repeated the shot, 22 off the over. Fletcher returned as the 50 partnership came up in 21 balls. Hain hit Fletcher for four, nine off the over. In a desperate attempt to slow the Bears, Mullaney elected to bowl Trego instead of Paterson in the 19th over. The over went for 31, including an above waste high no ball, as right handed Brathwaite (remember the name!) launched into the former Somerset stalwart. The first three deliveries went for six over mid wicket, square leg and mid wicket(off a no ball). A dot ball followed then another square leg six, then a four through backward point. A single followed. The game, now seemed, out of Notts’ reach. Brathwaite fell to a catch at long on by Clarke off Fletcher for 44 (3x4,3x6), 222 for five. Hain got his 50 off 26 balls with two off Fletcher(4-0-39-2). Seven off the over, Warwick 229 for 5 off 20 overs. Hain 53 not out. This was a record score against Notts in the competition beating the 227-5 made by Yorkshire at Headingley in the opening game of the triumphant 2017 campaign.
Notts hobble, but hobble quickly
Hales (0) fell to third ball of the reply, skying slow left armer Briggs to Rhodes at midwicket, 1 for 1. Three off the over. Clarke and Trego hit Mousley for two offside fours, 10 off the over Trego hit for Briggs for a leg side four and then two sixes over mid wicket, seventeen off the over. Clarke (8) attempting a pull shot off a long hop from Brathwaite's first ball was caught behind, 30 for two. Duckett hit his first ball for a leg side four off Brathwaite and another four off square leg, 10 off the over. Trego fell to Bresnan's opening delivery, caught at mid on by Rhodes for a 12-ball 23, 40 for three off 4.1 overs. Bresnan conceded four off the first over. Moores hit offspinner Mousley (2-0-27-0) for a four through backward square leg and Duckett hit fours through wide third man and through long on, 61 for three at the end of the power play, 17 off the over.
Ahead of the game?
Hales (0) fell to third ball of the reply, skying slow left armer Briggs to Rhodes at midwicket, 1 for 1. Three off the over. Clarke and Trego hit Mousley for two offside fours, 10 off the over Trego hit for Briggs for a leg side four and then two sixes over mid wicket, seventeen off the over. Clarke (8) attempting a pull shot off a long hop from Brathwaite's first ball was caught behind, 30 for two. Duckett hit his first ball for a leg side four off Brathwaite and another four off square leg, 10 off the over. Trego fell to Bresnan's opening delivery, caught at mid on by Rhodes for a 12-ball 23, 40 for three off 4.1 overs. Bresnan conceded four off the first over. Moores hit offspinner Mousley (2-0-27-0) for a four through backward square leg and Duckett hit fours through wide third man and through long on, 61 for three at the end of the power play, 17 off the over.
Ahead of the game?
Craig Miles bowled the seventh over which went for six. Duckett edged Brathwaite for a boundary. Three balls later he hit him for a mid wicket six, 14 off the over. Moores hit Miles for six over wide long off. Duckett and Moores got to 50 partnerships,which featured excellent and fast running between the wickets, in 31 balls, 11 off the over. Duckett hit Bresnan for successive leg side sixes into the Fox Road to bring up the Notts 100. Duckett got a boundary off Bresnan through third man and then stopped four behind the wicket to bring up his 50 off 25runs. 21 off the over, Notts 113 for three off 10 overs, Notts marginally ahead of the Vera Duckworth!
Pressure and wickets cost
Duckett (51 off 27 balls – 7x4, 2x6) reverse swept Lintott straight to Pollock at shortmid on, 113 for four. Mullaney hit the slow left arm wrist spinner for a legside six and a four, 13 off the over. Moores found the extra cover ropes off Will Rhodes. Mullaney (11) hit a slower ball from Rhodes (1-0-9-1) straight back to the bowler, 131 for five in the 12th over. Patel hit a four through backward point, nine off the over. He repeated the shot off the returning Briggs. Moores then hit the slow left armer to the point ropes, 147 for five off 13 overs. Moores (38 off 21 balls – 3x4, 2x6) fell to catch at short third man by Bresnan off Brathwaite, 148 for six after 13.3 overs. Just four came off the 14th over; Brathwaite 3-0-28-2. Patel hit Briggs (4-0-41-1) for a mid wicket six, 10 off the over. Harrison reverse swept Lintott for four. Patel (20 off 13 overs) sliced Lintott to Pollock at short third man, 167 for seven after 16 overs. Fletcher edged Miles for four and then leg glanced a four through fine leg, 12 off the over. Lintott (3-0-30-2) bowled the 18th over and Fletcher hit him for a six through mid wicket, 11 off the over. Bresnan (3-0-38-1) returned for penultimate over, Fletcher bisected the two fielders at mid wicket to reach the ropes. Harrison, who impressed with the bat, brought up the 200 with a four through mid wicket. Fletcher was run out for 11-ball 23 as Harrison went for two on a straight hit, 203 for eight off 19 overs. Fletcher after a miserable season with bat in hand had regained a bit of self belief with the willow. Miles(4-0-36-1) bowled the last over. Carter was caught at deep square leg by Lintott for one. Paterson hit the last ball for a four through point. Notts 211 for nine, Harrison 22 not out. Notts’ ninth highest total in T20 cricket. Notts had fallen short by 18 runs, on a night where 440 runs were scored at 11 an over. I knew that dead squirrel lying on the Fox Road before the game was a bad omen!
Changes?
With Notts’ line up, the wicket for this match probably played to our strength, although personally I would always prefer to Notts bat first on such surfaces.A lot of head scratching is required before Northampton on Sunday. Will Jake Ball be given a run out and will Notts try and introduce one of the youngsters to improve the mobility in the field? MAG
The Boris' Covid allocation to members has been sold out - but that will be less than 4,000 spectators according to the Trent Bridge article.
- In yesterday's match at Old Trafford, there were Foxes fans in attendance.
- Bears lost their opener as Vikings comfortably chased their target with 9 balls to spare.
- Hampshire have returned to being called Hampshire Hawks
The same 14 man squad announced in same TB article:
Sol Budinger
Alex Hales
Joe Clarke
Ben Duckett
Steven Mullaney
Samit Patel
Peter Trego
Lyndon James
Tom Moores
Calvin Harrison
Matt Carter
Luke Fletcher
Dane Paterson
Jake Ball
10.06
After the disappointing avoidable dropping of a point on Wednesday, will this mishap trigger a bout of squad additions and subtractions? Probably not because the side did everything to win, other than cross the winning line.
In the match's post game interview, Mullaney was given the usual easy ride of questions but in one answer he did cite poor fielding mistakes being a contributor to losing a point. 3 incidences of poor field stick in my mind, mainly because they were so unavoidable but also because Sky replayed them and zoomed in on Mullaney to watch his own reaction to them also. Culprits on those occasions were Fletcher driving in slow motion, letting a boundary through, Paterson sliding on the boundary effectively kicking the ball over the boundary and Paterson's missed run out, missing the stumps from 2 yards.
my thought is that the fielding is key and the age of the side is the crucial issue. We had a more youthful side in the county championship. Disappointing to have gone to older side in T20 when fielding counts. Trego for James was so retrograde.
ReplyDeleteStill cannot fathom out how we only got a draw from last nights game . We must have been 1-100 to win it on Betfair towards the end ? Anyone take a look?
ReplyDeleteWill P M stick with the same side tomorrow I wonder! Evison , Sol B and young James snapping at the heels of the older pros.
A great first Blast game for Sky anyway- i gather the crowd at the match last night was 700 . Was that the max allowed or just the number of spectators that actually wanted to watch it “ live” in the ground what with the various covid restrictions?
I thought I heard it said that the various bars in the ground were closed but you could order a drink direct from your actual seat? Is that correct?
No tickets went on sale for last nights fixture, it was restricted to Worcester members only
ReplyDeleteWe need to bring at least one young excellent fielder in, maybe James for Samit.
ReplyDeleteSometimes, and I say this with sadness, the time has come for a player, even when they have given so much.
It is disappointing for both Samit and the club, that he has been allowed to accumulate so much extra weight, since he last appeared in the first eleven.
ReplyDeleteOne can only assume,that his visits to Trent Bridge have been few and far between, in recent times.
That said, I consider he is too good a player to be excluded in this competition, especially now Christian will not be playing a part.
I think Evison, who is obviously in good form for the seconds, should be in the squad for the forthcoming games, and may be better suited than James in this format.
For me Evison would bat at 3, and Tom Moores moved down to 7 or 8.
I also think Fletcher should be rested in this completion.
If they play 3 spinners in each match then Trego will possibly have to complete the death overs, with either Paterson or Ball.
Obviously, if we manage to recruit an additional overseas batsman or bowler, then, the make up of the team will alter accordingly.
From the double heavy defeats sustained by the Seconds against a full strength Durham, Liam and Joey showed the character necessary and should be promoted to the first XI. The recurring problem of lack of energy in the field, in comparison to the opposition, has again been highlighted by the selected side last night. The balance between experience and youthful energy needs a little adjustment, IMHO.
ReplyDeleteI'd very much agree with the above post. I think T20 needs a youthful line up. I saw a premier club T20 the other night and one side put out the seconds and won easily, more energy and pace in the field and with the running
ReplyDeletePeter Moores at one time was a stickler for fitness with his players. He's let his standards slip one hell of a lot these days. Samit Patel is out of shape even for Samit Patel's regular shape.
ReplyDeleteLuke Fletcher isn't a T20 batsman or fielder and his bowling fails to compensate enough for that. Love Fletch but his a liability.
Fletcher can be a very good hitter but seldom delivers, he did on this occasion and I was there to see it https://www.espncricinfo.com/series/royal-london-one-day-cup-2019-1166902/nottinghamshire-vs-lancashire-north-group-1167059/full-scorecard
ReplyDeleteFletcher hasn't troubled the scorers often this season
DeleteMuch crosser about the abysmal failure to win against Worcs than this (sticking my neck out) crushing defeat - there are bound to be a couple of bad games in this format however good you are just try not to have one in the knockouts if you get there. Can we though PLEASE crack on that if you base your team on headcase hitting, prepare flat pitches that suit brutal attack from batsmen and are difficult to bowl on, shorten the boundaries to ensure there are boundaries galore and generally bet the farm on inevitable big scores (and when you have the two Worcs run chase debacles in your recent history), when you win the toss you bat for the love of Mike. (See also our depressing defeat in the 50 over semi/quarter final in 2019 when we put them in expecting them to score big and apparently being pleased that we "kept them" to 330 or whatever it was (and amazingly enough failed to chase it).)
ReplyDeleteWell the clear winner tonight was --- cricket!
ReplyDeleteThose lucky 4,000 saw a game that will live long in the memory.
The late Trego over of 31 proved a bridge too far in the end for Notts but it was a pretty spirited reply and we actually had a chance of an amazing win with 5 overs to go .Perhaps Peter Moores has got to re-think who bowls the first over and the final over. Notts are certainly missing the cool and expeienced head of Dan Christian . I do hope Alex Hales comes good for us and does not reserve his best knocks for the other flashy franchises. Tonight was tailor made for a quickfire 60/70 from Alex .
Lovely to see the crowds back on Friday nights bathed in glorious sunshine .
So what to do for the next game ?
Change the side a little?
Who to drop ?
And who to bring in ?
Couldn't agree more joelandethan; flat track, boundaries brought in, win toss and so you have to bat first and hope the pressure from the relentless required scoring rate does the business on minds. It certainly did with Hales and Clarke, they just cracked and senselessly chucked their wickets away far too early-on, as did the rest of them eventually. But our bowling, what a shambles. Plan B was it or was it C or D, having Trego bowling at the death - please never again. We found ourselves in a position where we needed a Harry Gurney as well as a world class leader, along with an International class leggy. And what did we have instead ; Peter Trego, a captain that stopped diving and chasing the ball as well ducking responsibility from bowling himself and a kid bowling leg spin, who in the circumstances tried hard, got a wicket and in the context of the innings "only" went for 10 RPO .
ReplyDeleteIt won't be, but should it be last we see of Samit?
I liked the look of Calvin Harrison. Sensible bowling in particular.
ReplyDeleteHad to admire Carlos The Magnificent, but we rather gave him what he loves, width to swing those powerful arms.
Carlos the Jackal did an assassination job on Trego's dross bowling
Deletesurely we need Budinger in for home matches if pitches are like that? For Trego maybe? Those 'roads' are maybe to cover up our weak bowling but I don't think it works. Our recent success has been built on a strong spin based attack and DC. We miss Imad as much as DC I think. When we play away we will likely face low scoring pitches
ReplyDeleteIrs hard to win tight Blast 20 matches with an “old” squad,
ReplyDeleteHales , Trego ( 40 today),Samit, Fletch, Mullaney . Thats half the current Notts side on the wrong side of 30/35.
How many runs in the field are we giving away nowadays ( hales excepted)
We could well miss out on reaching the lucrative quarter finals on current performance.
Time for Notts to bite the bullet and let the 'Dad's Army' move on in T20. Bring in Evison, Budinger, LPW and James. Out go Trego, Fletcher, Samit and Paterson.
ReplyDeleteIt's a fine line trying to obtain a suitable balance between young guns and a few old heads to calm the ship in a crisis.
ReplyDeleteEssentially,below par bowling was the main culprit, in Notts losing the match last evening.
A fit and firing Jake Ball and possible Chappel when fit, should offer more options upfront, and at the death, than Fletch and Paterson.
Trego can still contribute at this level, but I would prefer Evison to play ahead of him and James, and even Patterson White for either Samit or Harrison.
Christian's absence, has left a big hole, particularly his discipline and leadership skills,as much as his explosive batting, and Moores and Co have some difficult decisions to make until hopefully, Notts can secure another overseas replacement.
The crowd profile was interesting. Well behaved, watching the cricket ball by ball,no riff raff. Just the sort of clientele the club don’t want anymore
ReplyDeleteYes Fox Road - spot on !
ReplyDeleteNotts ccc had alcohol distribution points about every 5 yards and on each level for the packed out Friday night matches of two years ago . The aim seemed to be to encourage all spectators to consume at least four pints of flat overpriced beer/ lager each visit ( females included) . Will those 16,000 sardine packed crowds ever return I wonder . Even with everyone double jabbed there may be many fans not keen to be placed an inch away from punters each side and in front and behind .
The revenue producing departments may have to te think their stratedgy?