Mick Newell is looking for a big finish to the group stages after Notts missed out on the win that would have guaranteed a home draw in the Twenty20 Cup quarter-finals.

Notts Outlaws 61-3 (Hussey 26*, Patel 15, Read 15*)
Yorkshire Phoenix 65-2 (Hussey 2-11)

Yorkshire Phoenix won by eight wickets
Scorecard

While other results ensured that the Outlaws booked their place in the knock-out stages, the loss to Yorkshire in a five-over thrash left Notts needing a victory at Durham on Friday to guarantee a home quarter-final.

Heavy rain meant that no play was possible at Headingley until just before 8pm, and it was no surprise that Notts were invited to bat first by Yorkshire skipper Darren Gough when he won the toss.

Will Jefferson and Stephen Fleming fell in the first two overs but David Hussey, Samit Patel and Chris Read found the boundary to reach 61-3.

Patel hit two sixes in the six balls he faced, while Hussey and Read thumped Anthony McGrath and Gough for 20 and 17 runs respectively.

Yorkshire got off to a flyer as Craig White helped them reached 33-0 off the first two overs.

That left Notts facing an uphill battle and although Hussey picked up two wickets in his solitary over, Yorkshire passed the target with two balls to spare.

Director of Cricket Newell immediately focused on the trip to the Riverside and said: “It’s a shame we couldn’t confirm the home quarter-final with a win, but we will be starting on Friday with that objective.

“We really want that home draw because we believe having the crowd behind you can make a big difference.

“Durham are out of the running and have nothing to play for, so we must ensure we do our bit before we go into the hat on Friday evening.”

The match at Headingley took place under a persistent drizzle and on a wet outfield but Newell added: “In Twenty20 you expect to play in conditions that you wouldn’t in other competitions.

“There was still a decent crowd in when we started and Yorkshire were desperate to play to stay in the hunt for a quarter-final place themselves. I’ve got no problem with that.

“But it meant that we were down to a five-over slog and given that sometimes a 20-over match can be a lottery, it was impossible to say what would be a winning total.

“Once Yorkshire got off to such a good start we were always playing catch-up.”