Nottinghamshire Outlaws, 256 for six wickets, defeated Scottish Saltires, 213 all out, by 43 runs
The Saltires, dissatisfied with their performance batting first against Kent the previous day, wanted to make amends against a strong Nottinghamshire Outlaws line-up on Sunday (May 23). The Saltires lost again, but not without some spirited and combative effort, this time chasing a large target. Fantasy Football Games Free to Play Online. Disappointed in the performance of your fantasy football online team? Then it’s time to take matters into
Robin Hood may be the movie of the moment, but the Outlaws sent in their biggest batsmen to rob the poor and enrich the feast of their star-studded team.And Russell Crowe was not on hand amongst the slightly disappointing 400+ crowd to help the Scots on another hot and sunny afternoon at Citylets Grange.
After Neil Edwards had been sent back by a stunning diving catch by Richie Berrington at gully, Alex Hales (69) and Matt Wood (60) plundered the early Saltires seam bowling with a firestorm of fours and sixes.
Ross Lyons, playing in his first CB40 game for the Scots, was also blasted over the rope by Hales before getting the tall Notts opener well caught by Neil McCallum on the mid-wicket boundary with the score on 110.
Samit Patel (61) continued the onslaught in similar manner, with the Saltires looking down the barrel of a 300+ target. But when Wood was unexpectedly bowled by a Goudie yorker when the total was one short of the 200-mark, there was a sudden reversal of fortunes.
Goudie himself captured two more victims, the first courtesy of another sure-handed boundary catch, this time by Lyons, the last to fall appropriately pouched by the reliable Berrington. And the Greenock all-rounder had meanwhile accounted for Patel with the help of Ryan Watson.
So four wickets had fallen with the addition of only 57 runs, and the target was suddenly visible to the Saltires once again. But could they summon a series of outstanding performances from their top-order batters?
Gavin Hamilton clipped England opener Ryan Sidebottom’s first ball (pictured above) to mid-wicket for three, and Watson followed with a four to set the pace. Indeed, remarkably Hamilton outpaced his partner with two sixes and three fours off the Notts seamers before the visiting skipper Chris Read turned to Graeme White for spin.
The change of pace brought immediate results, Hamilton, having scored 42 out of the 83 on the board, skying to White for the first of his three caught-and-bowled victims. He was followed by another disappointing George Bailey innings (12), the second wicket falling at 110, but one over later than the Notts equivalent. And Watson himself went in a similar manner, prodding defensively at the fizzing ball two short of his half-century.
With 17-year-old Freddie Coleman baptised by a four-ball duck in between, the Scots had lost three wickets while adding just three runs. But the Saltires hadn’t finished, since the two batsmen now in were Berrington, fresh from two consecutive half-centuries against Leicesershire and Kent, and big-hitter Neil McCallum.
While they were together, the run rate resumed, and the dream was kept alive. McCallum had warmed up nicely with a couple of fours before launching a trademark six-ball towards the mid-wicket boundary… there were spectators who swore that, had Hales been shorter than six-foot-five-inches, the ball would have cleared the rope, but in that instant, the Saltires effor foudnered.
Berrington went on to reach his third successive half-century, even permitting himself a six-hit in what was otherwise just another sweat-and-hard graft innings of ones, twos, threes and fours. There is no doubt that he is improving, innings by innings, and is now central to Scotland’s prospects of victory.
But he needs the support of other batsmen down the order to finish the job, and this proved to be lacking against the Outlaws. So the likes of Haq, Petrie and Drummond have to become more reliably productive.
Goudie bashed two fours from his seven balls, and Lyons three from his only ball to add to his tally of not outs. Berrington, simply exhausted, was last out, tamely stumped to give White his fifth wicket of the match.
A good fight, nevertheless: never say die!
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