Notts Outlaws slipped to a six-wicket defeat in their NatWest T20 Blast match against Leicestershire Foxes at Trent Bridge.
The Pakistan international, on his Foxes’ debut, made an unbeaten 76 as the match ended in slightly controversial circumstances.
After Akmal had plundered his third six of a Luke Fletcher over, the 19th of the innings, the umpires intervened and announced that they had imposed a further six penalty runs against the home side, as they would be unable to start their final over in time.
Akmal scored his runs from 49 balls, hitting four fours and five sixes as the Foxes ended a bleak series of results in Nottingham, that has seen them lose on six of their previous seven visits.
The home side, including England’s Stuart Broad in their T20 side for the first time since Finals Day in 2010, had made 148 for seven for after being inserted, with Alex Hales top scoring with 54.
Clint McKay shone with the ball for the Foxes, finishing with figures of four for 24 in front of a crowd of 11,057.
Leicestershire’s reply appeared to hit the buffers from an early stage, with Jake Ball removing three batsmen with his first 14 deliveries.
Ball, who had claimed career-best first class figures of six for 49 earlier in the week, had Ned Eckersley taken at point in the first over of the chase, before clean bowling Ben Raine and Mark Cosgrove on his way to finishing with figures of three for 42.
Riki Wessels hit the first delivery of the match, bowled by Atif Sheikh, for four and Alex Hales did the same when he got on strike later in the over.
Clint McKay was brought on for the fourth over and was promptly despatched over the leg side ropes by Wessels (18) but the bowler responded by knocking out the middle stick with his second delivery.
Hales pulled Sheikh onto the leg side on eight and was fortunate when the ball fell between two fielders. Steven Mullaney (4) wasn’t so fortunate, as the next ball was taken at midwicket by a back-peddling Andrea Agathangelou.
Hales found his timing in the seventh over, pulling Sheikh behind square for his maximum and the over ended with Brendan Taylor picking up his first boundary.
Taylor, playing in his 100th T20 match, then played a delightful reverse sweep off Jigar Naik, which sped to the advertising boards.
Tom Wells’ initial delivery was launched by Hales into the Larwood and Voce Stand as the Outlaws moved to 71 for two at the halfway stage of their innings.
Hales then picked up back-to-back boundaries off McKay and Brendan Taylor, after a moderate start to his Blast campaign, also began to play his shots. The Zimbabwean hadn’t gone beyond 12 in his first three innings in the format but had scored 17 out of the 50 stand that he and the opener brought up in just 39 balls.
Another maximum, his third, took Hales to his half century from 39 balls, with four fours but he then fell in the following over for 54, picking out Rob Taylor at long on, as he tried to launch Naik into the crowd.
Brendan Taylor should have been run out on 24 but Mark Cosgrove made a mess of returning the ball to the bowler, Rob Taylor, as the home side began to apply some pressure.
Without ever being at his fluent best Taylor boosted the scoring with a couple of fours off Ben Raine in the penultimate over. Unfortunately he wasn’t to get his 50, given out lbw to McKay in the final over, who then dismissed James Taylor (0) next delivery, caught by wicketkeeper Ned Eckersley.
The bowler was unable to pick up his own hat-trick from the final delivery of the innings but a wicket did fall, nevertheless, as Stuart Broad (0) was run out without facing, trying to steal a bye to the ‘keeper.
An indifferent start with the ball saw Jake Ball send down three leg side wides from his first four deliveries but the still managed to make a breakthrough in the first over of the reply, as Eckersley sliced high to the Outlaws’ captain at point.
Ball struck again in this next over, knocking back Raine’s middle stump to leave the visitors on 20 for two and repeated the dose in his third over, doing the same to Cosgrove (18).
Agathangelou (14) fell to Broad, hitting the England man straight into the hands of Patel at midwicket but Umar Akmal kept the Foxes firmly in contention.
The Pakistan international, on his Foxes’ debut, showed his experience to move to 50 from 41 balls, with three fours and two sixes, before cutting loose in explosive fashion to guide his side to the win.
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