Captain Latham inspires Jets to victory with unbeaten 98
Durham skipper Tom Latham led from the front to steer his side to an impressive 34-run win over Nottinghamshire in their Vitality Blast meeting at Trent Bridge last night.
Latham scored an unbeaten 98 off just 55 balls as his side made 184 for five after being asked to bat first.
The left-hander’s contribution proved decisive as the defending champions failed to capitalise on an explosive start to their reply and could only muster 150 before being bowled out with 12 balls remaining, Paul Collingwood taking three for 25 for the visitors.
New Zealander Latham went past his previous best Twenty20 score of 82 and batted throughout the innings, hitting eight fours and three sixes, one of them a majestic pull from the bowling of international team-mate Ish Sodhi.
Graham Clark shared in an opening stand of 50 with his captain, making a punchy 33 from just 20 balls.
Collingwood helped propel the total up to 99 for one before the hosts applied the brakes with wickets in three successive overs around the mid-point of the innings.
Ryan Davies applied some timely aggression to help Latham add 59 from only 33 balls.
The 21-year old made 16 before falling to an excellent diving catch from wicketkeeper TomMoores,runningtowards square leg, giving Harry Gurney figures of two for 23.
Latham started the final over of the innings on 95, but lost the strike as Stuart Poynter muscled a succession of twos.
Steven Mullaney hit the first three balls of the Notts chase to the ropes as Will Smith’s first over went for 19 runs.
His opening partnership with Riki Wessels brought 67 runs before both contributors departed within the space of six deliveries, Wessels dismissed by a Chris Rushworth yorker for 42 and Mullaney meeting the same fate to James Weighell for 25.
Moores, Samit Patel and Billy Root all fell cheaply, leaving Notts on 105 for five after 12 overs, just as their opponents had been at the same stage.
Dan Christian threatened to derail the Jets’ victory charge with two sixes in his 32, but he received little support at the other end, with Collingwood chipping away with valuable wickets, whilst Imran Tahir also bagged two for 20 against his former side.
The biggest cheer of the evening came when Jake Ball, playing after being released from England’s one-day international squad earlier in the day, hit Nathan Rimmington for a huge six, moments before the same bowler ended the contest with the wicket of Gurney.