Win not enough as Notts miss out
NOTTINGHAMSHIRE completed a five-wicket victory over Yorkshire in the final match of their Division One programme.
Half-centuries from Ben Slater and Ben Duckett took them to a winning second-innings score of 174 for five, wrapping it up seven overs into the afternoon session.
But Warwickshire’s victory against Somerset to wrap up the LV Insurance County Championship title denied Nottinghamshire second place in the table and a trip to Lord’s for the Bob Willis Trophy.
They missed out on second place by half a point to Lancashire, whose win against Hampshire on Thursday ruled Steven Mullaney’s team out of contention for the title.
It would have been the other way around had Nottinghamshire not fallen four runs short of a third batting point when they were bowled out for 296 in their first innings, having needed only 18 more runs with three wickets in hand.
“For us, it was all about finishing the season with a win and thankfully we managed with that with a satisfying performance in the end,” said Ben Slater, who top scored with 79 not out.
“We were gutted to miss out on that extra bonus point and how it transpired, which took it (the title race) out of our hands, but that’s cricket I suppose.
“Unfortunately, we can’t finish first but we did what we had to do in winning the game, giving us a chance of going to Lord’s next week depending on the other results.
“The way Ben Duckett played last night, taking a decent chunk out of what we needed, set things up nicely for today. For me, it was nice to be there not out at the end to win a game, which doesn’t happen that often for an opening batter.”
Nottinghamshire resumed on 42 for one, needing 132 more runs with the whole of the final day ahead of them.
After Duckett fell for 54, having hit seven fours before bottom-edging into his stumps off Jordan Thompson to end a stand of 98 for the second wicket, Nottinghamshire stuttered.
Joe Clarke miscued to mid-off for 10, Steven Mullaney was bowled by a fine Ben Coad delivery and Tom Moores chipped straight to midwicket.
But Slater made the most of his good fortune after being dropped on 19 in the third over of the day and was still there at the end with 11 boundaries to his name.
Yorkshire suffered their first Championship defeat at Trent Bridge since 2008 but took the contest into a fourth day after being bowled out for 73 in their first innings and following on.