Fast-starting Outlaws tie up in home straight
RIKI Wessels admitted Notts Outlaws made life difficult for themselves after edging out Lancashire Lightning for their first t20 Blast win of the season.
Chasing 185, Wessels and fellow opener Michael Lumb eased the hosts to 100-0 within nine overs. But after the pair fell having made 50s, the Notts middle-order crumbled as they stumbled over the line by two wickets with two balls remaining.
Wessels’ 58 earned him a man-ofthe-match gong, replying to Jos Buttler’s 53 from 29 balls for Lancashire, but the Notts opener insisted the win was more important than the performance.
“That was typical Notts, wasn’t it?” he said.“We always seem to find a way of making life hard for ourselves but it’s quite nice to get over the line.
“The team needed that – at this stage a win is a win and we’ll take it any way we can get it.”
Lumb, who made 53, added: “Jos came in and played his shots and got them into a good position but it’s great to get a win under our belts and get a little bit of momentum.”
It completed a mixed weekend for Lancashire after beating Roses rivals Yorkshire Vikings on Friday, but a third defeat in four has left the holders in jeopardy from exiting at the group stage already.
Leicestershire Foxes also had a bitter-sweet time of it, breezing past Durham Jets on Saturday by six wickets to sit third in the early stages of the season.
The Foxes restricted the visitors to just 120-9 after reducing them to 26-5, knocking off the total with 21 balls to spare for their second win of the campaign.
But Derbyshire Falcons responded to the shock departure of elite performance director Graeme Welch to overcome Leicestershire on Friday night, thanks to three wickets and an unbeaten 29 from New Zealander Jimmy Neesham.
Elsewhere, Northants ensured they were the only team across both leagues to maintain their 100 per cent record, with Josh Cobb’s half-century helping the Steelbacks to a comprehensive seven-wicket victory over Worcestershire.
Yorkshire’s Roses defeat kept them winless in this season’s Blast, despite an extravagant 91 not out from 51 balls for Joe Root.