Head Coach Peter Moores believes the Outlaws can have no complaints after their defeat at the hands of the Birmingham Bears.
Notts posted a target of 152 from their 20 overs and the Bears looked relatively untroubled as they chased it down with 3.4 overs to spare.
Speaking after the result, Moores believes that despite the result the Outlaws are still in with a chance of qualification, even though it may be by the skin of their teeth.
“We can’t have any complaints – we didn’t get enough runs and that’s been a challenge for us all the way through this T20 campaign,” he said.
“We’ve lost wickets up front then lost wickets all the way through.
“We’re still in it I think as I think three wins will still get us through if the weather holds for us to play them out.
“It starts tomorrow against Yorkshire – there’s no time to feel sorry for yourself. We have to scrub up quickly and come back tomorrow night with a fresh head.”
Samit Patel top scored for the Outlaws with 41 whilst Jake Libby finished unbeaten on 21* but Moores believes that losing wickets early on in the powerplay eventually cost his side.
“We felt par was about 165 so we weren’t a million miles off,” he said.
“We lost three wickets in the power play which put us under pressure and we didn’t get any of our big players to go on and get a score.
“Samit played well. Credit to Jake Libby and Billy Root at the end - we scrambled up to 152. If the Bears batted well it was always going to be too low.”
Tonight’s result means that tomorrow’s clash with the Yorkshire Vikings at Trent Bridge is a must win if the Green and Golds are going to reach the knockout stages.
Moores knows that the Outlaws must shake off tonight’s defeat quickly if they are going to be successful against the White Rose.
“In some ways we won’t approach tomorrow any differently,” he said.
“We look at our team and choose what is the best 11 to go on the field - and the way T20 works is you’ve got to play free and be brave to go out and play.
“So, we’ll try and get tonight out of our system as quickly as we can and make sure tomorrow we come back with a clear head.
“We’re still a good team – that hasn’t changed at all - we just haven’t played well for the last two games.”
A partnership of 79 from Ian Bell and Colin de Grandhomme saw the Bears home at Edgbaston and Moores believes that the Outlaws must replicate such match winning partnerships if they are going to qualify.
“We’ve got to get more consistency with the bat to win the next three games and progress,” he said.
“We need to build partnerships and extend things longer, so we get a more significant score.
“Bowling wise we bowled OK at times – Harry Gurney bowled really well tonight.
“It’s a tough night for a couple of the lads as once the Bears got to within 50-60 of the score, they have the freedom to go for their shots and Ian Bell played beautifully again.”
Looking ahead to tomorrow’s game, Moores has already identified the threats the Vikings pose but he still thinks the Outlaws can come out on top in front of a home crowd.
“They’re a dangerous side up front with people like Lyth and Kohler-Cadmore,” he said.
“We’ll back ourselves to beat them with it being at our place.
“We haven’t had the greatest season at home but T20 is a funny game - you can get yourself on a bit of a roll and ours has got to start tomorrow.
“It's three finals to get to the quarter final so for us, so to win the tournament we’ve got to win six games in a row.
“We ask the same of the players every time – just make sure you don’t leave anything behind, get out there and give it everything.
“We were very up for tonight and unfortunately, we just didn’t play well enough.”
He added: “The crowd have been fantastic. We haven’t always played well at home as we have in the past but that’s sport, sometimes it goes that way.
“The key for tomorrow is that we have 11 blokes who walk onto the field who’ll give everything for the Club to try and win that game and if we do, we’ve got good players and we can get ourselves off and running.”
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Notts Outlaws play their final Vitality Blast home group stage match of the season against Yorkshire Vikings on Friday from 6.30pm. Book in advance to save £4 off tickets by clicking here...