Thrilling centuries from Samit Patel and Steven Mullaney have taken Notts Outlaws through to the final of the Royal London One-Day Cup competition.
The pair added 185 runs in less than 24 overs to help their side over the line in a record-breaking performance against Essex Eagles at Chelmsford.
Patel finished on 122 not out and Mullaney made 111 and claimed the man-of-the-match award as Notts chased down a victory target of 371 to win by five wickets with three balls remaining.
The run chase was the highest successful one in English domestic one-day cricket.
Earlier, Essex made 370 for five after winning the toss and opting to bat first, with Alistair Cook scoring 133 before Ryan ten Doeschate powered the home side to a huge total with 102 not out.
The Eagles captain scored his runs from just 66 balls with seven fours and five sixes. Patel and Broad both claimed two wickets apiece for the Outlaws, with Mullaney claiming the other.
The Outlaws’ starting line-up showed two changes from the side that defeated Somerset at Taunton on Tuesday. Alex Hales and Jake Ball, fresh from their ICC Champions Trophy exploits with England, returned to the eleven in place of Billy Root and Luke Fletcher.
Essex opened the batting with the vastly experienced duo of Cook and Varun Chopra. The former England Test captain demonstrated his quality from the start, caressing his way to 50 from just 35 balls with nine fours.
The hosts had put 67 on the board from the first 10 overs and moved to 87 before Mullaney struck in the 14th, having Chopra caught behind for 23.
Tom Westley hit five boundaries in 23 balls but having scored 33 he chipped Patel straight into the hands of Brendan Taylor at midwicket.
Broad was the sixth bowler to be introduced and he reeled off eight challenging overs in succession and was finally rewarded with the wicket of Ravi Bopara, who guided behind from an open face, having made 16.
Broad’s first delivery to ten Doeschate was a no ball and the batsman tucked into the resulting free hit by launching it back over the bowler for the second six of the innings.
The Eagles’ captain carried on that momentum to pick up a half century from 40 balls with six fours to add to his first blow.
Cook’s drive down the ground off Broad brought him his 13th four and his hundred off 95 deliveries and then the Essex push arrived.
Both Cook and ten Doeschate accelerated, with 21 coming from the 38th over. Their partnership had reached 98 when Patel struck for the second time.
Cook, attempting a slog sweep, ballooned the ball straight up and into the waiting hands of the ‘keeper. Ashar Zaidi made 16 then hit Broad to a diving Taylor at square leg.
At that stage Essex were on 295 for five in the 45th over but James Foster ran hard and supported his skipper in a whirlwind stand of 75 from just 5.2 overs.
Ten Doeschate went from 50 to 100 in only 24 balls, helped by four towering sixes and he had every right to believe that his side had scored enough runs.
With clear blue skies overhead, and the floodlights shining brightly, Notts began their pursuit of 371 but were soon rocked with the loss of Michael Lumb.
The left-hander had already hit two boundaries before being squared up by Porter, who caused a leading edge to fly to point.
Hales hit seven fours in a 21-ball innings of 39 before hitting around a Porter delivery, to leave the visitors on 73 for two. That became 80 for three when Wessels also fell to Porter, after dragging on for 23.
Taylor, off the back of his 154 at Taunton, looked in prime form and seemed capable of repeating his extraordinary feat.
Again improvising, he swept, reverse swept, cut, drove and scooped his way to a splendid fifty from 39 balls but on 62 his wicket was gifted.
Patel chopped to Porter at short third man but didn’t move. Taylor, from the non-strikers’ end hared down the wicket – and was sacrificed as the return to bowler Hamer allowed the run out to be completed.
Mullaney was quickly into his work, supporting Patel in the fifth wicket partnership that swung the game,
Patel reached his 50 from 60 balls and his partner sprinted to the same milestone from 39.
On 81 came the only real scare for Patel, when Essex claimed a catch by Bopara that was passed to the television umpire to review.
Reprieved, he brought up his ton from 106 balls, with nine fours as the required run-rate was maintained.
83 were needed from the final 10 overs and that was brought down to 38 from the last five.
Mullaney had played a gem of an innings and deservedly brought up his hundred with the most telling of blows, a mighty six – his sixth – to go to his maiden one-day century.
With the finishing line in sight Mullaney was caught behind off Neil Wagner but Patel ensured there were no further alarms with back-to-back fours to clinch victory and a place in their sixth major one-day final.
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