Greg Smith expects Trent Bridge to be rocking form a home quarter-final, after securing the tie with a dynamic half-century in a six-wicket win over the Birmingham Bears.
“I can’t wait to play a home quarter-final at Trent Bridge. It’s going to be rocking,” he said.
“I love playing there, everyone loves playing there, it’s a special place to play your cricket. Hopefully we’ll get near enough 16,000 in, that home advantage can tell and we can get ourselves to finals day.”
Smith, who scored 52 not out off 31 balls against the Bears, said victory was made more specal by being at the crease for the moment of victory.
“Any batsmen will tell you they want to be there to hit the winning runs. It’s something Mick (Newell) has spoken about, being the person that gets the side over the line," he said.
“It makes it that bit sweeter being the person that has taken responsibility and got it done for the team.
“That win was a good as any. We’re getting on the right side of close games which come knockout cricket, when things don’t always go your way, is a good sign.
“We’re showing good character; not necessarily winning throughout the 20 overs but getting on the right side of the result.”
Although his arrival at the crease coincided with successive loss of both openers, Smith was immediately inventive and got off to a flyer.
The 27-year-old puts it down to hard work in the nets with Peter Moores paying dividends.
“With my role at number three, whether I come in during the power-play or the middle overs, I’ve got to be busy with my scoring zones & my boundary options and take the game to the opposition,” he said.
“It’s 20 overs, you want to impose yourself on the game. Today I timed the ball reasonably well and got away, which was nice.
“I didn’t play the Championship game this week so Mooresy and I spent a lot of time in the indoor school getting a bit funky.
“We tried sweeps, reverse sweeps and worked on how I could get the ball in zones where they won’t have fielders. It’s nice when a plan comes together.”
A year ago, Notts felt the heartbreak of failing to qualify for the last eight - and he believes it’s no coincidence that they have fared so much better this time around.
“The team is in a totally different place. There hasn’t been a huge change in personnel, but guys now their roles,” he said.
“If you watch us in the field, we’re really diving around for each other. There has been a big change there, everyone feels comfortable with what we are trying to do and long may that continue.
“As the group has gone on, we’ve got stronger and stronger. We lost our first two games, but hopefully we’ve saved out best cricket for when in matters the most.”
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