Some extraordinary hitting from Alex Hales helped Notts Outlaws to kick off their NatWest T20 Blast campaign with a convincing eight wicket victory over the Birmingham Bears at Trent Bridge.
The England one-day international was in irresistible form as he raced to an unbeaten 86 from only 43 balls, hitting five fours and eight sixes as his side cantered to the win with 33 balls to spare.
Birmingham had posted 141 for seven after being invited to bat first, with skipper Varun Chopra making 80 from 61 balls but his side struggled against a disciplined bowling unit, led by Luke Fletcher, who took three for 24.
The Bears, who triumphed in 2014, had no answer to the onslaught served up by Hales after the interval, although his opening partner, Riki Wessels, had fired the first shots in anger by racing to a quickfire 30 out of an opening stand of 42.
Hales then took over, with the 26-year-old, who will jet off to India this weekend for a brief stint with the Mumbai Indians, bowing out in devastating style as he plundered sixes from six consecutive deliveries faced, spread between the twelfth and thirteenth overs.
No bowler was spared, as the ball repeatedly flew into the stands, with Boyd Rankin and Ateeq Javid baring the brunt of the devastation. Each was hit away for three sixes in a row in one of the most brutal displays of hitting seen on the ground.
Shortly after being named Man of the Match, the opener said, “I feel in really good touch right now, both in red ball and white ball cricket – and hope it continues.
“I just gave myself a couple of overs to have a look at it but it was a beautiful pitch to bat on and the runs came easily.”
Outlaws captain James Taylor paid tribute to his side. “I thought we were very clinical. Harry Gurney and Jake Ball did well for us up top when there was a little bit of nip in the wicket.
“Then Luke Fletcher came on and did what he does best, by hitting his yorkers.”
The Bears lost their opening wicket to the ninth ball of the match, with William Porterfield guiding Jake Ball straight into the hands of James Taylor at point, for just a single.
Nine balls later Harry Gurney opened his Blast account for the season by firing one through the defences of Tom Lewis, to bowl the left-hander for nought on his first team debut.
From a position of 8-2 the defending champions needed a response and it came from Varun Chopra and Tim Ambrose.
A flurry of shots, including three consecutive boundaries by Ambrose, lifted the visitors to 41 for two at the end of the six-over powerplay.
Luke Fletcher entered the attack in the seventh over and his second set of six had the home fans roaring with approval. The first delivery yorked Ambrose for 20 in traditional fashion and four balls later the big fast bowler set off on a mini half-lap of honour as he flattened Rikki Clarke’s stumps for one.
Those two wickets took Fletcher to the 50 mark in T20 cricket.
Laurie Evans, man of the match in last season’s Blast final, hit Steven Mullaney for the first six of the match and then repeated the dose off Vernon Philander.
The batsman had a spot of good fortune on 28 when a diving Brendan Taylor, keeping wicket for the Outlaws, couldn’t hang on to an edge off Ball.
A stand of 77 for the fifth wicket was broken by the return of Fletcher, who skittled Evans’ stumps for 35.
Chopra, the Bears captain, had passed his 50 from 41 balls, hitting seven boundaries but he couldn’t quite manage to bat through the innings.
In the final over, bowled by Gurney, he skied to midwicket, only to see Philander put down the spiralling effort. Next ball, predictably, was swept into the base of the Fox Road Stand for six.
The innings ended with two identical run outs. Chopra, returning for two, failed to beat a throw from Mullaney at mid-off.
Left-handed Keith Barker went the same way to the next ball, this time it was Riki Wessels with the perfect return.
Wessels was soon back in the thick of it, hitting Clarke’s first two deliveries for four to get the Outlaws innings off to an explosive start.
Hales didn’t see much of the strike until the third over, when he was given a life by a back-peddling Barker at fine leg.
After blasting 30, out of an opening stand of 42, Wessels perished, caught by Lewis off Clarke at deep midwicket.
On seven Hales had gone past David Hussey’s total of 1922 t20 runs for Notts, and into second place on the all-time run-scorers list behind Samit Patel.
The England international then injected some momentum into his own innings by hitting Jeetan Patel for a huge six, which was followed by a well-timed leg side clip for four.
Lewis took his second catch of the evening to account for Brendan Taylor, who made 12, off Patel but Notts were already well ahead of the game at the halfway stage of their chase.
Any hopes the Bears had of arresting the initiative back was suddenly lost as balls began to fly into the crowd with great regularity and the end came swiftly to allow Notts to celebrate a convincing start to the campaign.
The excitement of NatWest T20 Blast returns to Trent Bridge in May as Notts Outlaws face Birmingham Bears in the first of seven home matches on Friday 20 May.
Supporters can witness every minute of the action with a NatWest T20 Blast Season Ticket, priced at just £84 (adults), £63 (over 65s) or £203 (family 2+2), with Membership available to U16s at £26 and U21s for £36.
Make Trent Bridge a firm fixture for your Friday nights and secure your seats now.