Scorecard
Sussex seamer Dwayne Smith took a hat-trick to end any hopes of a middle order revival as Notts Outlaws crashed to defeat by 157 runs in a road trip to forget.
Depleted by the decision to preserve the freshness of senior players for Wednesday’s LV County Championship match against Durham, Notts were put under immense pressure after winning the toss and fielding as Sussex piled on the runs in the early reckoning.
A tight spell from Adam Voges slowed their rate considerably to restrict the Sharks to 254 but Notts struggled to establish meaningful batting partnerships and collapsed to 102 all out.
Debutant Jake Ball took a wicket before succumbing in Smith’s destructive over which put a firm end to any prospect of a close finish.
Charlie Shreck was expensive, conceding 36 runs in 4 overs leaving Carter and the spinners to bowl the lion’s share of the overs.
The Notts attack successfully disrupted Sussex and Carter took the tenth wicket with the final ball of the innings but a firmer top order platform was required for the Outlaws to mount any serious challenge.
“One over has changed this game so we don’t regret our decision at the toss,” said Matt Wood who captained the side in the absence of Chris Read.
“It was always going to be very difficult against one of best one day sides in the country and they gave us a good lesson but I thought that our youngsters were outstanding and Jake did very well in his spell in the power play overs.
“Our senior players are required to be fresh for Durham but I don’t think these youngsters are out of their depth. We’ve got a lot of players in that 18 to 21 bracket who can come in and not look out of place.”
Alex Hales top scored with 33 and Akhil Patel (22), Samit Patel (19) and Andy Carter (12) were the only other players to reach double figures.
Sussex stay clear at the top of Division One of NatWest Pro40 whilst Notts will hope to reap the benefits of their selection policy during their trip to the north east.