After last-ball drama saw Notts Outlaws tie with Somerset in their second Royal London One-Day Cup fixture, they will travel to Cardiff to face Glamorgan less than 24 hours later.
Director of Cricket Mick Newell celebrated his team’s ‘escape’ against Somerset, pinpointing their death bowling as the main driver for their positive result.
“Getting away with a point here was a good thing for us,” he said.
“We didn’t play at our best today but showed some real skill and control under pressure at the end, and we were happy to escape.
“We didn’t bat well enough. It was a scruffy score, and a scruffy innings. We should have made more runs if our batsmen had taken it on a little more.
“We had to battle, work really hard in the field and we’re happy to come away with this point.”
After posting a total of 261-8 thanks to a late 50 from James Franklin, Somerset looked to have taken the contest from Notts with an opening partnership of 125 between Marcus Trescothick and Nick Compton. However, Luke Fletcher, Harry Gurney and Jake Ball claimed five wickets in the last eight overs to force the tie.
“Fletch, Jake and Harry all did really well under pressure in the last six or eight overs,” said Newell.
“Steven Mullaney and Samit Patel started that process, that drag back of Somerset’s innings and that’s what got us back into the game when the big opening stand looked like it was going to take it away from us.”
The Outlaws now travel to the SWALEC Stadium in Cardiff to face Glamorgan, a side who have two wins from two in the Royal London One-Day Cup. After beating the Welsh side in the final of the Yorkshire Bank 40, Newell isn’t perturbed by the quick turnaround in fixtures.
Putting in a matchwinning performance will be a big ask, but everyone has a sob story if they want to tell it,” he said.
“We just have to get on with it, and if we go down to Cardiff and play better than we did today, we can win the match.
“They have had two big wins, against Middlesex and Surrey, they’ll be very pleased with that and we know it’ll be a tough game. They’ll be confident on their home ground but we’re looking forward to it.”
Notts have no fresh injury concerns for the match, and are likely to welcome Ajmal Shahzad back into the fold as Newell looks to keep his seamers fresh and capable of performing to the best of their abilities.
“Were just trying to rotate the seamers.” he said.
“It’s hard work for them, playing 50 over matches three times in four days and we need to share the work around. Ajmal is likely to play instead of one of the other lads.”
Notts Outlaws squad to face Glamorgan (from): Alex Hales, Michael Lumb, James Taylor, Samit Patel, Riki Wessels, James Franklin, Chris Read, Steven Mullaney, Sam Wood, Luke Fletcher, Ajmal Shahzad, Jake Ball, Harry Gurney.