Notts Outlaws travel to one of their happier hunting grounds on Wednesday afternoon for their penultimate group match in the Vitality Blast competition.

The match will be staged at New Road, with a 4.00pm start, and carries huge importance for the North Group final standings.

With each side having one further match to play, Notts can guarantee themselves a home quarter-final with victory.

They go into the match on 15 points, with a home contest against Durham to follow on Friday.

Lancashire will finish on top of the North Group and Derbyshire have gone second, on 16 points, after Monday’s win against the leaders at Old Trafford.

Derbyshire have finished their programme though, so Notts would go past them with a win and it would leave Worcestershire in fourth spot on 14 points.

Head-To-Head

Notts Outlaws have had the better of their exchanges with Worcestershire Rapids in T20 cricket over the years.

There have been 15 fixtures scheduled between the two teams, one of which was washed away by the weather.

Of the remainder, Notts have won nine times and lost five.

At New Road, the list of results makes for very impressive reading for Outlaws supporters with Notts having triumphed six times out of six.

In last year’s match, Riki Wessels played one of the most brutal innings seen on the ground, reaching his 50 from only 17 deliveries, with nine sixes.

He has since signed for the Rapids from the Outlaws.

Despite that loss, Worcestershire went on to reach Finals Day for the first time and eventually won the competition, defeating Sussex Sharks in the final.

The Rapids began their defence with a 28-run victory at Trent Bridge last month.

Results of previous T20 meetings at New Road

2010 WON BY 6 WICKETS (S Mullaney 3-12, A Hales 66*)

2011 WON BY 10 RUNS (A Hales 39, S Mullaney 1-20)

2014 MATCH ABANDONED

2015 WON BY 11 RUNS (D Sammy 36*, S Patel 3-17)

2016 WON BY 4 WICKETS (S Mullaney 2-22, D Christian 53*)

2017 WON BY 11 RUNS (W Root 37, D Christian 3-18)

2018 WON BY 5 WICKETS (S Mullaney 2-34, M Wessels 55)

Trivia

Can you remember the nine different overseas players that have represented Notts Outlaws in the six T20 Blast matches that have been completed against the Rapids at New Road, Worcester?

(answers at the foot of the page)

Stats (Records for all T20 matches between Notts & Worcestershire)

Highest Team Total:

Notts: 195-5 (Trent Bridge, 2017)

Worcs: 208-8 (Worcester, 2017)

Highest Individual Innings:

Notts: 80* MH Wessels (Trent Bridge, 2016)

Worcs: 102* CJ Ferguson (Trent Bridge, 2018)

Best Bowling:

Notts: 3-12 SJ Mullaney (Worcester, 2010)

Worcs: 5-24 A Hepburn (Worcester, 2017)

Foot In Both Camps

Notts Outlaws’ Head Coach Peter Moores began his playing career with Worcestershire.

The wicketkeeper-batsman, who later served Sussex with distinction for over a decade, made his first-class debut on the New Road ground in 1983.

Moores made 11 first-class appearances for the Pears, scoring 215 runs with a best score of 45. He also pouched 18 catches.

His Worcestershire career also included five one-day appearances.

Played For Them Both

Nottinghamshire’s Alex Hales was briefly loaned to Worcestershire early in the 2014 season playing oneCounty Championship match.

At the SWALEC Stadium in Cardiff, he made scores of 15 and 63 in a drawn match against Glamorgan.

Others to play for both counties include Andy Carter, Bobby Chapman, Joe Clarke, AJ Harris, Phil Jaques, David Lucas, Nadeem Malik, Paul Pollard, Andre Russell, Richard Stemp, Chris Tolley, Riki Wessels and Luke Wood.

Did You Know?

This match features the last two winners of the competition. Notts Outlaws were the victors in 2017 and Worcestershire Rapids succeeded them a year ago.

Trivia Answers

2010 – David Hussey, Dirk Nannes

2011 - Tamim Iqbal, Adam Voges

2015 – Darren Sammy, Ben Hilfenhaus

2016 – Dan Christian, Andre Russell

2017 - Dan Christian, Ish Sodhi

2018 – Dan Christian, Ish Sodhi