Surrey Vitality T20 Blast Quarter-Final at Trent Bridge Win Report

 

16/07

Notts Outlaws win

SURREY DOWNED AT THE STONE COLD DEATH BY HOUDINI OUTLAWS

MATCH TURNED BY A FANTASTIC FREDDIE McCANN RUN OUT

Notts booked themselves a semi-final against Hampshire with an amazing come from behind seven run victory over Surrey at Trent Bridge last night. On a well-worn slow tacky surface which was used for the T20 international and last Fridays game versus Leicestershire Notts held their nerve. Surrey who stood on 101 for 0 after 12 overs needed 63 off the last eight overs contrived to lose the game from a seemingly unassailable position with boundaries getting harder to obtain with the ball getting older.

Notts won the toss and elected to bat on a sunny afternoon. The 16:30 start prevented any school children to attend and with England's World Cup semi kicking off at 20:00 it seriously affected the crowd which numbered around 2,500. With the quarters having a reserve day a Thursday start was impossible. Playing on Tuesday night would have also been a logistical challenge since the competition group stage only finished on Sunday night. But as we know cricket scheduling in the UK is run by Sky TV which had one-day internationals slotted in already for Tuesday and Thursday this week. Wednesday was the only option!

With the wicket expected to turn, Pocklington replaced McCann in the team. The latter though was to produce the crucial play of the game.

Clarke inside edged Topley (Radcliffe Road End) and was caught by keeper Pope, 0 for 1 off 4 balls. The skipper clearly unhappy with the decision. The first over was a maiden. Haynes cover drove Abbott for four; nine off the 2nd over. Munsey hit Topley for two fours through point; 10 off the third over. Munsey (11) was caught at short third man by Tom Curran off Jordan (19 for 2). Pocklington surprisingly came in at number 4 but after a nervy start was to become the second top scorer. The fourth over a wicket maiden. Curran conceded six off the 5th over. Haynes lofted Abbott (2-0-18-0) for four through mid-wicket. Notts 34 for 2 off 6 overs.

Lawrence conceded two runs off the 7th over. Lawes went for six in the 8th over. Haynes hit the first six of the contest smashing Lawrence over extra cover; 11 off the 9th over. Jordan went for nine in the 10th over. Notts 62 for 2 off 10 overs. They were to accelerate adding a further 101 in 10 overs.

Tom Curran conceded seven off the 11th over. Haynes clubbed Lawes (3-0-27-0) for a four through mid-off. He followed it with a ramped four behind the wicket next ball; 12 off the 12th over. Pocklington (26) hit Lawrence (3-0-23-1) for a straight six but perished the next ball going for the same shot caught by Roy at long off (87 for 3), 10 off the 13th over. A T20 batting best for Pocklington. A single for Haynes off Tom Curran took him to his 50 off 36 balls, seven off the 14th over. Haynes crunched a straight four off Lawes, nine off the over. Notts 107 for 3 off 15 overs.

Moores pulled Topley for six over square leg. But was then dropped on 14 at square leg by Sykes off Topley. Moores lofted Topley for four through square leg; 15 off the 16th over including a leg bye. Moores (20) was caught low down at short third man by Topley off Jordan (122 for 4). Linde fell for a golden duck losing his off stump to Jordan (122 for 5) , four off the 17th over. Notts though were to accelerate with 37 plundered off the last three overs.

Haynes lofted Topley for a square leg four. Howell directed Topley for four through wide long leg. Next ball, Howell ramped Topley (4 1 39 1) for six, 15 off the 18th over. Howell hit Jordan (4 1 22 3) for six over square leg. Surrey went beyond the cut-off point and had to have five men in the ring for the last seven balls of the Notts innings, nine off the 19th over. Haynes ran one short off the first ball of the last over. Off the third ball, Howell (19) was caught at extra cover by Lawrence off Tom Curran (152 for 6). Patterson-White hit Tom Curran (4 0 32 1) for 6 over long on. Haynes (75 not out off 55 balls; 7x4, 1x6) hit the last ball for four through mid-wicket. Notts 163 for 6 off 20 overs Patterson-White 7 not out. Haynes had batted superbly and Notts had a competitive total on the board.

Amir (Pavilion End) conceded a single off the first over. Roy hit Linde for four through extra cover; six off the second over. Evans hit Fernando for four through extra cover Ball five proved eventful. Evans on 6 drilled the ball back to Fernando who failed hold onto the very difficult, reflex one-handed chance after raising his left arm. Following lengthy treatment he bowled the last ball of the over and then left the field; eight off the 3rd over.

Evans guided Stone for four through third man. Roy then hit a straight four off Stone; 12 off the 4th over. Evans hit Linde for four through cover point. Roy guided Linde for four through extra cover; 10 off the 5th over. Evans hit Amir for four through backward square leg; nine off the 6th over. Surrey 46 for 0 at the end of the powerplay.

Roy hit Stone for four through extra cover to bring up the Surrey 50, seven off the 7th over. Roy hit Patterson-White for three consecutive boundaries two reverse swept through backward point and one towards extra cover; 16 off the 8th over. Howell went for five in the 9th over. Roy reached his 50 off 33 balls with a six over long on off Patterson-White, 11 off the over – the only six of the Brown Caps innings. Surrey 85 for 0 off 10 overs – 23 ahead of Notts at the same stage.

Roy clubbed Howell (2-0-15-0) for four through extra cover; 10 off the 11th over. Pocklington went for six off his sole over of the contest. Surrey 101 for 0 off 12 overs were almost at Edgbaston. The feature of the campaign though was Notts never say die attitude and they refused to give up.

Evans (40 off 34 balls; 4x4) was caught at extra cover by Patterson-White off Linde (101 for 1), two off the 12th over. Roy hit the expensive Patterson-White (3-0-36-0) for a lofted straight four, eight off the 13th over. Lawrence (3) was well caught off Linde (4-0-23-2) by Howell low down running in from wide long off (113 for 2). five off the over. Surrey 117 for 2 off 15 overs needing 46 off 5 overs – with a side packed with internationals it should have been an easy chase.

Roy edged Amir for four through third man and then ran a single. A dot ball followed. Then came the crucial play of the game. Off the fourth ball, Josh Philippe played the ball to substitute Freddie McCann at wide long on and non-striker Roy called him for the second. McCann threw the ball in hard and fast and the Exocet throw hit the non-strikers stumps directly. Roy run out for 76 (off 50 balls, 10x4, 1x6). Pope hit Amir for four through backward square leg; 11 off the 16th over. Fernando bravely came back on the pitch to bowl the 17th over – he was clearly struggling with the injury to his bowling hand. Philippe hit him for four through extra cover, 10 off the 17th over – 26 needed off three overs. Amir (4 0 26 0) went for five singles off the 18th over. A brilliant effort.

Twenty-one required off two overs. Off the first ball, Pope tried to switch hit Fernando and top edged him to Moores (143 for 4). Tom Curran hit his first delivery from Fernando to the point ropes – the last four of the match. Curran ran one off ball three. Philippe had a let off on 15 when Munsey running back from short third man failed to get his hands on the skier, the batsmen ran three. Curran (5) top edged Fernando (3-0-27-2) to Linde who took the towering skier in the covers (151-5). Jordan ran a single off the last ball.

Twelve were needed off the last over bowled by Stone who held his nerve as he had done in the recent home win against Lancashire. The small crowd were now very animated and were clapping and cheering loudly. The first ball was a legside wide. So accurate was the Notts bowling throughout the innings this was the only extra of the innings! The first legitimate ball of the over was a dot ball to Jordan. Off ball two, Jordan (1) edged Stone aerially who took the return catch (153 for 6). Sykes and Philippe ran singles off balls three and four. Nine still required with two balls left. Left-hander Sykes (1) edged a wide delivery and Moores grabbed the chance diving to his left – Notts celebrated wildly knowing that they had now won. At 19:38 Stone bowled the last ball, Abbott (1 not out) obtaining a single. Surrey 156-7 off 20 overs. Surrey losing by seven runs. They have now lost all three T20 contests against Notts. Notts had repeated their recent Houdini efforts against Lancashire (1 run) and Durham (2 runs) to narrowly win once more.

Notts face Hampshire in the second semi on Saturday. Hampshire have won three of their four T20 matches against Notts – the Outlaws sole win being the 23 run win the 2017 Semi at Edgbaston. Tom Moores who made a 4 ball duck batting at three the only survivor from that particular match. MAG

Squad

Joe Clarke
George Munsey
Freddie McCann
Jack Haynes
Tom Moores
George Linde
Benny Howell
Joe Pocklington
Mohammad Amir
Dillon Pennington
Ben Martindale
Olly Stone
Liam Patterson-White
Ben Martindale
Binura Fernando

14/07

They used to be an annual event, but this one is the first since covid*.

Quarter-finals at Trent Bridge, either a rapaciously glorious event or a huge anti-climatic, forgettable letdown. Nothing inbetween. Those are the joys of knock-out cricket.

Jeopardy, that's what Outlaws have been thriving off this season. Take it away and we've been missing something; as in our last two group matches.

Leicestershire weren't up to much and Yorkshire, well nothing was at stake for Notts.

Hopefully that "something" will be back tomorrow.

*2020-21