Notts Outlaws hit their highest ever T20 score to beat Derbyshire Falcons comfortably by 94 runs. Falcons won the toss and captain Shan Masood put Outlaws in to bat first at Trent Bridge on Thursday (June 23) night, who brought in Sol Budinger and Zak Chappell for Calvin Harrison and Dane Paterson.
Outlaws put the disappointment of the Leicestershire Foxes game well and truly behind them, smashing 247/6 off their 20 overs with Ben Duckett top scoring with 63. In reply, Falcons scored 153/9, with Outlaws keeping them comfortably at arm's length throughout the chase, with Chappell and Samit Patel each picking up three wickets.
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Outlaws started the innings quickly, with 22 scored in the second over off Sam Conners. The 50 partnership for the opening wicket stand between Joe Clarke and Alex Hales came up in just 3.4 overs.
Hales smashed his way to 55 within the opening five, but got out at the end of the fifth to Mattie McKiernan, after top edging to Luis Reece at long-on, his innings coming to an end after 23 balls. At the end of the powerplay, Outlaws were 86/1, putting to bed any potential hangover from the poor performance against Leicestershire two days ago.
Towards the end of the eighth over off Wayne Madsen, Clarke looped one into the air for the bowler who took an easy catch to dismiss the opener for a 17-ball 38. Ben Duckett continued the quick tempo in the 10th off Madsen, hitting three boundaries in a row, as Outlaws reached 124/2 at the halfway stage.
The 50 partnership for the third wicket came up off 30 balls in the 13th between Duckett and Steven Mullaney. Mullaney hit three consecutive sixes in the 14th off George Scrimshaw, although the first was a top edge that just cleared the ropes and over the deep fine leg fielder.
He tried to make it four-in-a-row, but hit it to Leus du Plooy at deep midwicket off the final ball of the over to fall for 45. Dan Christian (12) fell in the same way at the end of the 16th, this time off Kerr.
The 200 for Outlaws came up midway through the 17th, before Duckett brought up his half-century off 31 balls hitting a boundary off McKiernan a delivery later. He went for 63 in the 19th off Mark Watt, as the Outlaws surpassed their previous T20 best of 227 with nine balls to spare.
du Plooy took a superb catch at deep midwicket in the last over, catching Patel (8) over the boundary rope, throwing the ball back within the boundary, and completing the catch off the bowling of Scrimshaw. Tom Moores (20*) hit the final two balls for four, as Outlaws posted 247/6, setting Falcons 248 to win.
The home side started their defence well, as Matt Carter dismissed Luis Reece for 2 at the end of the second over after he tried to hit the spinner for six on the legside. Clarke ran the boundary well to take the catch.
Chappell clean bowled Falcons captain Masood for 18 in the third, uprooting his off-stump. Mullaney took a fine catch at full-stretch to dismiss McKiernan for 11 off Patel's first ball in the fourth, reducing Falcons to 31/3 off 3.1 overs in their pursuit.
But the away side recovered well, ending the Powerplay 72/3, with du Plooy and Kerr accelerating the score. At the start of the eighth though, quick hands from Tom Moores stumped Kerr (24) off Mullaney's first ball of the match, which prompted wickets to tumble.
Madsen (6) attempted a reverse hit against Mullaney at the start of the 10th, but misjudged it and was bowled. Falcons were 99/5 at the halfway stage.
du Plooy (35) tried to hit big against Chappell at the start of the 11th, but picked out Hales at long-on, seemingly ending any realistic hopes of victory for the away side. Alex Hughes (5) attempted the aerial route against Chappell at the end of the 13th, but hit it straight to Outlaws captain Dan Christian at mid-off for a simple catch.
Mullaney bowled out his allocation at the end of the 14th, his four overs going for 2/17. Patel picked up the wicket of Watt (4) the next over, who was trapped LBW, with Sam Conners falling for a first-ball duck the same way the very next ball.
Hat-trick ball, and Scrimshaw defended well, but Patel picked up an incredibly rare T20 double-wicket maiden. Falcons did manage to bat the full 20 overs, reaching 153/9 with Brooke Guest unbeaten on 40, including hitting the final ball of the innings off Matt Carter for 6, and Scrimshaw unbeaten on 5.
Despite that, it was a commanding victory for Outlaws, who thumped their East Midlands rivals by 94 runs. Outlaws are next in action at Durham on Friday (June 24) night.
Notts Outlaws: Joe Clarke, Alex Hales, Ben Duckett, Steven Mullaney, Dan Christian (c), Samit Patel, Tom Moores (wk), Sol Budinger, Zak Chappell, Matt Carter, Luke Fletcher
Derbyshire Falcons: Shan Masood (c), Luis Reece, Hayden Kerr, Mattie McKiernan, Leus du Plooy, Wayne Madsen, Brooke Guest (wk), Alex Hughes, Mark Watt, Sam Conners, George Scrimshaw,
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