Notts head coach Peter Moores believes his side has the calibre to overcome a star-studded Middlesex line-up, as knockout Vitality Blast cricket returns to Trent Bridge on Thursday night.
Despite the setback of losing their final home group stage game against Durham, the Outlaws secured second place in the north group of this year's competition, qualifying for their ninth quarter-final in ten years.
“These are the days you play for,” said Moores.
“We’ve got good players, and in recent years we’ve managed to find a formula that has worked for us.
“The Durham loss might end up being quite a good thing for us. It demonstrated a couple of areas that we need to work on before the knockout phase.
“We’re backing ourselves to come out on top. The key thing for us is to make sure our house is in order and we’re ready to do what we need to do.”
The South Group side come into the game full of confidence having chased down a mammoth 227 with three overs to spare against Somerset to book their place in the last eight, including Eoin Morgan’s 83 not out off 29 balls.
Tomorrow’s visitors will, however, be stepping into the unknown with Middlesex having never played a T20 game at Trent Bridge - something Moores believes could work in favour of the Green and Golds.
“It’s an advantage to us that they haven’t been to Trent Bridge and don’t know about the ground," he said.
“They’ve got a strong top five and we’ll be trying to make early inroads into their batting line up.
“For us, it’s not just about being excited, it’s about being able to deliver the quality to win the game. That's the message we’ll give to our players.
“It will be an exciting contest with the quality of players on the field - a nice mix of experienced players and some exciting youngsters, which all makes for a great spectacle.
Notts Outlaws squad to face Middlesex (from): Jake Ball, Matt Carter, Dan Christian (c), Joe Clarke, Ben Duckett, Luke Fletcher, Harry Gurney, Alex Hales, Jake Libby, Tom Moores, Chris Nash, Samit Patel, Imad Wasim, Luke Wood.
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Notts Outlaws will face Middlesex in the quarter-final of the Vitality Blast at Trent Bridge on Thursday 5 September with a 7pm start. Secure your seats...