Report: Notts v Bears Men, Vitality Blast
Notts Outlaws 143-7 (4pts) beat Warwickshire Bears 139 (0pts) by three wickets with one ball to spare.
Warwickshire Bears fell to a narrow three-wicket defeat in a low-scoring Vitality Blast thriller at Trent Bridge, as Notts Outlaws chased down 140 with just one ball to spare.
Jack Haynes hit three sixes to top score with 36 from 17 balls, Scotland international George Munsey hit 27 from 30 and South African George Linde 29 from 25, including the winning boundary, off-spinner Rob Yates having given the Bears a chance by taking four for 22.
Kai Smith’s 34 from 28 deliveries represented the top score for the Bears in the face of a strong Outlaws performance with the ball, led by Pakistan seamer Mohammad Ali’s three for 27.
Needing seven an over to register back-to-back wins after beginning their season with three losses, the Outlaws romped to 67 in the powerplay for the loss of only Joe Clarke, caught behind off Chris Woakes.
But Yates then struck back with an extraordinary run of wickets, taking all his four for just six runs in 13 deliveries as Notts suddenly found themselves in serious jeopardy.
He had Haynes caught a little tamely at mid-off, bowled Tom Moores and held two return catches in the same over to remove Freddie McCann and Munsey. With Beau Webster dismissing Benny Howell, the Outlaws had slumped from 72 for one in the eighth over to 87 for six in the 12th.
Perversely, Yates then conceded 14 from his last over, slog-swept for six by Liam Patterson-White, who was bowled by Usman Tariq for 20 from 14 balls, at which the Outlaws needed 22 from 27 balls at 118 for seven.
Linde eased any nerves in the home crowd by squirting four to the offside boundary and lofting Dan Mousley for six over long-on and though Tariq conceded only two off the penultimate over/
The Outlaws needed three off the final over and though Richard Gleeson took it to the penultimate ball, Linde’s four off an outside edge won the night for the home side.
Earlier, the Bears had begun brightly after being asked to bat first but squandered the start provided by Yates (23 from 19) and Zen Malik (29 from 18).
The openers matched each other with three fours and a six as the Bears ran up 54 runs in 32 balls. But both were out within the space of seven deliveries as Yates found the man at deep point and Malik miscued to short third, after which the innings never regained its early momentum.
Off-spinner Freddie McCann picked up a big scalp as Mousley, released by England Lions, missed his reverse sweep. The Bears found themselves struggling at 68 for three from 10.
Beau Webster slog-swept Benny Howell’s first ball for six but Ed Barnard feathered a catch behind two balls later. Webster found himself frustrated by disciplined bowling before losing his leg stump to Dillon Pennington for 23 from 26 and Howell dismissed Alex Davies leg before.
Smith cleared the ropes twice and Chris Woakes added a six of his own, but regular wickets prevented the Bears from building sustained momentum. Jordan Thompson, Woakes and Gleeson fell during the closing stages before Smith departed, leaving the Bears with a total of 139 to defend.
