Notts Outlaws beat Durham by four wickets in their final home Vitality Blast game of the season, but results elsewhere means Outlaws are knocked out of the competition in the group stage. Outlaws captain Dan Christian lost his last toss as a player and captain for Notts at Trent Bridge, as Durham elected to bat first.
Durham scored 183/8 off their 20 overs, with Jake Ball and Steven Mullaney each picking up three wickets. Outlaws chased the total down with 18 balls to spare, scoring 184/6 with Ben Duckett top scoring with 53* in front of a crowd of 11,431.
READ MORE: Notts Outlaws score highest ever T20 total to beat Derbyshire Falcons by 94 runs
Ball, making his 100th T20 career appearance, bowled the first ball to Graham Clark, and the delivery hit him where no-one would want a ball to hit, pausing proceedings before they had really begun. Clark and Michael Jones were kept fairly quiet in the opening overs, before Clark (14) top edged to Joe Clarke at backward point off Ball's first ball in the fifth over.
Ball struck again later the same over, with Ollie Robinson (4) top edging high into the Trent Bridge sky and straight into the gloves of Tom Moores. At the end of the powerplay, Durham had been restricted to 41/2.
Outlaws kept on top of Durham, until visiting captain Ashton Turner smashed three consecutive boundaries off Samit Patel in the ninth. Turner and Jones brought up their 50 partnership in the 10th off 28 balls, but Jones (33) hit the final ball of the over straight to Dan Christian off Mullaney, as the visitors reached 86/3 at the halfway stage.
Liam Trevaskis (6) was dismissed in the exact same way at the start of the 12th. Hat-trick ball, and Paul Coughlin hit it to cow corner, but a diving Ben Duckett couldn't quite reach it as it bounced just in front of him for 4.
Coughlin (4) would fall next ball though, hitting one high into the air, before Samit Patel at fine leg ran in to hold on to the catch after fumbling it at first. Looking to up the rate, at the end of the 15th, Jones (41) hit a well-timed shot, but Mullaney ran the boundary from deep square leg to take the catch off Ball's bowling after being hit for three boundaries in the over.
Brydon Carse (25) looked to keep the run rate going, but midway through the 17th, he picked out Ben Duckett on the long-off boundary for Lyndon James' first ever T20 wicket. Midway through the 18th, a mix-up in the middle saw an angry Ben Raine (10) run out.
Raine had reached the other end but Ned Eckersley at the striker's end did not run. Bowler Christian and Raine collided in the middle, but Christian knocked out middle stump with the ball to run him out and did not retract the appeal, as Raine made his feelings clear to the umpires.
But Eckersley (23*) and Andrew Tye (13*) finished the Durham innings strongly, hitting the final two overs off Ball and Christian for a total of 28. Durham posted 183/8 off their 20 overs.
Alex Hales started at lightning speed for the home side, hitting three consecutive boundaries off Trevaskis in the second over of the chase. Not to be outshone, Clarke hit consecutive sixes off Raine in the third.
But Hales (26) got underneath the ball too much in the fifth off Trevaskis. He hit it to Nathan Sowter who ran the boundary from deep midwicket well to take the catch. Outlaws ended the powerplay at 67/1.
The 10th over saw Clarke and Ben Duckett reach their 50 partnership in 30 balls, and Clarke brought up his own half-century off 28. the pair had kept the rate up well, as the Outlaws reached 108/1 at the halfway stage.
But at the start of the 11th off Sowter, Clarke tried to hit to the legside, but top edged it to Turner to depart for 51. Steven Mullaney (1) was stumped towards the end of the 12th after some quick hands from Robinson to dismiss the first-class captain.
Midway through the 15th, James (20) sent one hanging into the Trent Bridge sky, before Trevaskis took the catch off Sowter. Tom Moores then came in and immediately hit three consecutive fours, and with five overs to go, Outlaws were 160/4, requiring less than a run per ball to win.
A fantastic bit of fielding from Sowter dismissed Moores for 16 during the 16th off Tye. At deep cover, Sowter caught the ball over the boundary rope, threw it back into the field and completed the catch. Duckett brought up his half-century off 31 balls the next over.
During the same over, Robinson claimed another stumping, this time Sol Budinger (10) who was off-balance off the bowling of Sowter. But Carse started the next over by bowling a no-ball with the batsmen running two, bringing an end to the game as Outlaws chased down the total with 18 balls to spare, finishing on 184/6 and winning by four wickets.
But results elsewhere meant Outlaws have been knocked out of the Vitality Blast in the group stage. Outlaws play their final game in this year's competition away at Worcestershire Rapids on Sunday (July 3).
Notts Outlaws: Joe Clarke, Alex Hales, Ben Duckett, Steven Mullaney, Lyndon James, Tom Moores (wk), Sol Budinger, Samit Patel, Dan Christian (c), Calvin Harrison, Jake Ball
Durham Cricket: Graham Clark, Michael Jones, Ollie Robinson (wk), Ashton Turner (c), Liam Trevaskis, Paul Coughlin, Brydon Carse, Ned Eckersley, Ben Raine, Andrew Tye, Nathan Sowter
READ NEXT:
- Brennan Johnson breaks silence after signing new Nottingham Forest contract
- Brennan Johnson signs new Nottingham Forest contract
- Nottingham Forest fans issue classy response to Derby County takeover announcement
- Nottingham Forest shirt sponsorship situation explained after new kit release
- Click here for all the latest sports news and opinion from Nottinghamshire Live
