Leicestershire Foxes Vitality T20 Blast at Grace Road Loss 0 pts

OUTLAWS SQUANDER CHANCES AND FALL TO ANOTHER DEFEAT

Leicestershire beat Notts by 5 wickets with an over spare at Grace Road today on the back of a 39 ball 67 (6x4, 2x6) from on loan Lewis Goldsworthy and an unbeaten 22 ball 44 (2x4, 3x6) from locum overseas all-rounder Jimmy Neesham.

An unchanged Notts won the toss and elected to bat on an excellent fast and bouncy strip which was good for batsmen and bowlers. Twice Notts had a foothold on the game standing at 87-1 after 10 overs and then when Leicestershire were 6 for 3 in the 3rd over. Unfortunately on both occasions a position of dominance was wasted and Leicestershire, with a big hitting long batting line up, got over the line very comfortably in the end.

The game was poorly attended despite the home team still having a chance of qualifying for the last eight.

Mike (Pavilion End) conceded two singles off the opening over. Hull went for five in over number two. Clarke hit Mike for lofted straight boundary and then an enormous straight six over square leg and out of the ground, a replacement ball was required. Thirteen off the third over. Martindale hit Hull for four over mid-wicket, eight off the 4th over. Martindale repeated the shot off Currie in the following over. Next ball, Martindale found the square leg, nine off the 5th over. Clarke found the point ropes off Mike. A short ball from Mike was deposited to the square leg ropes off Mike. Notts 49-0 after 6 overs.

A full toss from Ahmed's opening delivery went for six over square leg off the bat of Clarke. Another short delivery off the last ball of the over was smashed for straight four by Clarke, 12 off the 7th over. Clarke (39 off 23 balls, 4x4, 2x6) hit Neesham for a four through backward point but fell off the last ball of the over slashing the Kiwi low to Goldsworthy on the point ropes who took the catch, 68-1 after 8 overs. Martindale switched hit Goldsworthy for six over point, 12 off the 9th over. Ahmed then conceded seven, Notts 87-1 off 10 overs.

Notts then completely lost their way with the Brain's Trust getting their batting order wrong. Incredibly only 27 runs came off the next six overs. The batsmen trying to hit every ball out of the ground rather than accumulate runs by placing the ball. Whilst understanding the logic of having a left- hand right-hand combination. It defies belief that Moores was brought in at number five ahead of Ben Slater who eventually came in at eight to face the last ball of the innings.

Haynes (7) was caught on the square leg ropes by Goldsworthy off Hull; 87-2. Hull bowling a wicket maiden in the 11th over. Ahmed went for three singles in the 12th over. Martindale (44) hit Currie for six over mid-wicket but he perished attempting the same shot caught by Kimber via some gymnastics on the mid-wicket ropes, 96 for 3 after 13 overs. Martindale's innings came off 42 balls with four boundaries and two sixes but far too many dot balls, 21 – 50% of his innings. But let’s not be too critical at least one youngster has been given a chance. This innings a real confidence booster for him.

Ahmed (4 0 25 0) conceded three off his last over. Montgomery was bowled by Goldsworthy for 3, 99 for 4. Moores lofted Goldsworthy for four over extra cover, seven off the 15th over. Patterson-White top edged Neesham for four, eight off the 16th over. Moores (7 off 10 balls) played another painful innings playing onto Mike; 115 for 5 in the 17th over. With Notts needing impetus to their innings Haynes, Montgomery and Moores had burnt up 29 balls whilst scoring just 17 runs.

James hit his first ball from Mike (4 0 33 1) for a six over square leg, eight off the 17th over. James hit Neesham for successive offside boundaries. After playing and missing two deliveries James then slashed Neesham for 4 over third man, 13 off the 18th over. Patterson-White hit Hull (4 1 31 1) for six over long on and then next ball was a full toss on leg stump which Patterson-White went for six over square leg. Patterson-White hit the free hit for a single, 18 off the 19th over. Patterson-White (28) was caught on the long on ropes by Ahmed off Currie (4 0 35 2). Slater (0 not out) swung and missed the last delivery. Notts 160 for 6 after 20 overs. James on 22 not out off 11 balls; his best T20 effort of the season. Notts total was probably 20 runs below par but on the bouncy surface they still had a chance if they took early wickets which they duly did.

Budinger (0) pulled a short ball from Stone straight to Harrison on the backward square leg ropes, 1 for 1 after one over. Patel hit Farooqi's opening delivery for four through extra cover. Patel (5) played on to a well-pitched delivery from the Afghan, 5 for 2. Four off the second over. Handscomb skied Stone to Haynes (0) at extra cover, 6 for 3. Goldsworthy was dropped on 2 by James at second slip off Stone. A difficult chance but it seemed odd with early wickets of paramount importance they had their best slip catcher Harrison patrolling the boundary on the boundary ropes.

Rehan Ahmed was dropped on by Clarke diving to his left at slip the ball going for four. The ball coming very fast to him. Ahmed slashed the next ball to third man ropes, 11 off the 4th over. Ahmed hit Stone to the point ropes, six off the 5th over. Notts had to keep a seamer on for last over of the powerplay but elected to bowl Montgomery who conceded seven. From this point all the early momentum was lost. Leicestershire 34 for 3 after 6 overs.

Goldsworthy hit Patterson-White for a straight four, six off the 7th over. Goldsworthy bottom edged a four off Harrison, eight of the 8th over. Rehan Ahmed hit Patterson-White for a straight four, eight off the 9th over including a leg bye. James conceded 5 runs off the 10th over. Leicestershire 61 for 3 off 10 overs still needing 100 but now looking strong favourites.

Goldsworthy hit two fours through square leg and mid-wicket off the 11th over bowled by Harrison, 13 off the 11th over. Goldsworthy hit James for six over backward square leg. Rehan Ahmed (34 off 38 balls, 4x4) skied James to Haynes at deep extra cover, 82 for 4. The 4th wicket partnership raising 76 in 9.1 overs; the Nottingham born player had played a somewhat streaky but valuable innings. James conceded 10 off the 12th over. Goldsworthy hit a full toss from Harrison for six over mid-wicket. Neesham hit Harrison (3 0 37 0) for six over long on, 18 off the 13th over. Harrison's bowling one of the bright spots of the 2024 T20 campaign was unfortunately very disappointing today. The body language in the field from the Notts players was not good, they were not destined for yet another defeat.

Goldsworthy got to his 50 off 28 balls. Goldsworthy hit a short ball from James (3 0 24 1) for four through square leg, nine off the 14th over. With Notts desperate for a wicket Farooqi returned but despite only conceding six did not take the crucial wicket. Neesham hit Montgomery for four through mid-on. Neesham switch hit Montgomery (2 0 20 0) for four through third man, 13 off the over. Goldsworthy hit Patterson-White (3 0 21 1) for four over backward point. Goldsworthy (67) was finally caught by Montgomery at mid-wicket off Patterson-White, 136 for 5 off 17 overs. The fifth wicket stand had added 54 in 5.2 overs. Neesham hit Stone (4 0 22 2) for six over long on; 11 off the 18th over. Fourteen were required with two overs left, Neesham hit Farooqi (4 0 35 1) for a straight six off the fourth ball of the over. Two balls later, Kimber (6 not out) hit a straight four to take the Foxes (161-5 off 19 overs) home with an over to spare.

Notts had their chances today but failed to take them. The team desperately short of quality and confidence.

Will the coach be brave enough to make any changes on Wednesday? MAG

Preview

You know the squad, yes really, you do know the squad. It'll be as you were, same again as the problems we having are just down to bad luck and confidence. That's the party line.

"cricket is fickle" is the by-line off Pravda yesterday, but the definition for fickle is frequently changing, something that's not happening in this batch of games for Notts Outlaws, where we're stuck in a latrine of losses; we either lose to a county or we lose to the weather.

I fully believe that the players are really working hard on their game, individually and as a collective BUT, of all 18 counties, many with more trying problems than just a few players retiring or moving on to bag a final payday; no other county has won less matches than Outlaws in 2024 or has got a net run rate of minus two (a true indicator of the level of the drubbings taken).

It's Not Rocket Science

So if the players selected are working hard and it's still consistently not working out or even close to producing positive outcomes, then something else is wrong! 

Perhaps you have the wrong players that are working hard.

Moores won't change a thing however, as he's too loyal to his own past decisions.

Meanwhile the potential talents of Sammy King, Tom Loten, Fateh Singh, Dane Schadendorf, Freddie McCann and Farhan Ahmed remain untested at this level.

Something else to ponder.

This competition is well and truely dead and buried for Notts, but coming up fast is the Metro Bank Cup: what are they going to do about Tom Moores this year?

Last year Tom escaped the competition, when Uncle Mick gave him an unplayed wildcard to sit out August with the Trent Rockets and with his pal Steve, but not this year. So where does Tom fit in to the Metro Bank side, playing in close proximity to all of his adoring fans potentially? I've not even heard if the Aberdeen T10 competition has gained his interest yet.