SECONDS EASE TO T20 VICTORIES OVER UNICORNS

Nottinghamshire Seconds enjoyed the best of a trip to Oxfordshire to take on the Unicorns, coming away with two victories in the Second Eleven T20 competition.

Notts won the toss and chose to bat in the first game, opening up with Anju Dal and Tom Moores.

The pair had put on 31 in the first five overs before Dal was caught at mid-on by Alex Thomson off James Hunt for 12.

Hunt struck again in the seventh, Moores caught by Ed Pollock for 21, the score 44-2 as Dan Christian joined Will Root.

Christian had added 11 before he was caught by Hunt off Cameron Taylor and then Taylor bowled Root for 20 off the last ball of the 13^th, the score 88-4.

Chris Read, on his return from injury, joined Greg Smith and the pair put on 40 for the fifth wicket as they put the visitors in a good position.

Both men fell in quick succession though, Read (35) was caught by Taylor off Hunt in the 17^th over and Smith (32) fell to a catch by Hunt off Ashley Shaw’s bowling in the 18^th, the visitors 141-6 with two overs to go.

Next over Brett Hutton was unlucky to be run out without facing a ball whilst backing up when Sam Wood drove a ball straight back at bowler Hunt who deflected the ball onto the non-strikers stumps.

Adam Tillcock joined Wood but Tillcock was bowled by Toby Bulcock first ball of the last over, out for three.

Dominic Brown joined Wood and they saw added eight in the final few deliveries, Wood ending 14* and Brown two not out as the visitors finished on 161-8.

The chase began well for the Unicorns, Aaron West and Alex Mellor adding 45 in the first five overs.

A great piece of fielding was needed to break the partnership, Simon Webster taking a stunning catch at long-off off Christian to dismiss Mellor for 13.

Ed Pollock joined West but was caught t long-on by Tillcock off Sam Wood’s bowling in the ninth over for nine.

In the 12^th, West fell just short of his half century, trapped LBW by Webster for 48.

The hosts lost regular wickets from then on, closing their 20 overs on 137-8 with Alex Thomson 15 not out, a win for Notts by 24 runs.

In the second game the Unicorns won the game and chose to bat but got off to a horror start, losing three wickets in the first five overs.

West (4) was trapped LBW by Dominic Brown, Pollock (1) stumped off Root and Vishal Tripathi (10) run out by Dal.

Lee Thomason joined Mellor, some work required to get the innings back on track, reaching the fifty mark in the 9^th over.

The 50 partnership had just been reached in the 16^th when Thomason (28) was caught on the leg-side boundary by Dal off Wood’s bowling.

Harry Stephens guided his side past the 100 mark but lost Mellor (48) in the 19^th, Unicorns 113-5 with less than two overs to go.

However, Alex Thomson joined Stephens with the latter ending on and they saw out the final balls, Unicorns posting a final score of 131-5, Stevens 28 not out and Thomson 1 not out.

Nottinghamshire’s reply came from openers Anuj Dal and Tom Moores but a mix-up in the 3^rd over saw Moores run out by James Hunt for three.

Wood joined Dal and the left-hander completed a fine fifty from just 31 balls and including seven fours and one maximum.

The hundred came up in the 14^th but in the same over Wood (64) fell to a catch at backward point by Ashley Shaw off Alex Thomson’s bowling, ending a partnership worth 88 runs.

Christian carried on where Wood left off though, smashing three sixes, his third winning the match, in an 11-ball 25* as Notts won by eight wickets, Dal unbeaten on 41.