James Taylor’s outstanding form in this season’s Yorkshire Bank 40 competition continued as he top-scored in Notts Outlaws’ 89-run win over Netherlands at Trent Bridge.
Taylor’s 75, complemented by half-centuries from Samit Patel and Michael Lumb, lifted Notts to 263-5 after they’d been put in by the visitors who were then bowled out for 174.
Following on from scores of 108, 50 not out and 39 not out, in the previous YB40 matches, Taylor lifted his aggregate to 272 from just four innings but the right-hander played down his own achievements.
“I’m feeling good but more importantly it’s five wins out of five for the team and that’s an unbelievable effort from the guys." James Taylor
“I’m feeling good but more importantly it’s five wins out of five for the team and that’s an unbelievable effort from the guys," he said.
“We’ve bowled well and we’ve batted well together, which is always good. We’ve been phenomenal so far but need to kick on and keep the results coming.”
Although the surface looked true and hard Taylor admitted he was a little surprised at how it played. “When I got out there to bat I felt it was quite tricky. It was a slow, spinning wicket, not really what we were hoping for but we adapted well with both bat and ball. It was vital for us that Lumby (Michael Lumb) played as he did and got us off to such a good start because it was hard for us to play fluently in the middle of the innings.”
The visiting skipper Peter Borren invited Notts to bat first, as Chris Read’s good fortune at the toss ended at four successive wins.
Michael Lumb (57) and Alex Hales (21) got the innings off to a fast start, posting 60-0 in the initial powerplay overs, before the right-hander slashed Peter Borren to point.
Lumb’s fifty had come from 41 deliveries (4x4, 1x6) but he was then bowled by Pieter Seelaar, allowing Taylor and Patel to join forces.
They added 112 together in 18 overs, taking the game away from the Dutch, with a succession of high-class shots and regular rotation of the strike.
Patel (61) reached his fifty (52 balls, 6x4) and Taylor followed soon afterwards (53 balls, 4x4) but then both were dismissed, along with Riki Wessels (11) in the final quest for quick runs.
The visitors reply soon floundered, with Jake Ball striking early, on his way to figures of 2-37.
Ajmal Shahzad claimed three for 26, including two wickets in succession to break the heart of the middle order, whilst Patel and Graeme White took two wickets apiece and Harry Gurney bagged the other.
The biggest ovation was reserved for Sam Wood, on a s a fielding substitute for Steven Mullaney.
Opener Stephan Myburgh pulled the ball towards the New Stand – Wood sprinted, dived and caught an absolutely stunning catch inches from the ground, to a huge ovation from a crowd of almost 3,000.
A last wicket stand of 27 enabled Dom Michael (59 not out) to reach his half century, aided by a six into the Fox Road Stand from a Gurney free-hit, after a no-ball which tore through his defences and bowled him.
The end came when Patel dimissed Malik Jamil (9) at the start of the penultimate over, to claim the man-of-the-match award for his two wickets, to add to his 61 runs and three high-quality catches.
The victory cements Nottinghamshire’s grip at the top of Group A with a perfect 10 points out of ten, which confirms the county’s best start to a one-day campaign since 1976.