Trent Bridge will, once again, be packed to the rafters as Notts Outlaws bid to reach their third Finals Day in four years when they entertain Middlesex in the Vitality Blast Quarter Final.
Having come through the tough North Group qualifying programme in second spot, on 16 points, Dan Christian’s side find Middlesex standing in their way.
The Lord’s-based team established a third-place finish in the South group, with 15 points.
Notts Outlaws v Middlesex will take place at Trent Bridge on Thursday 5th September 2019 (7pm start).
Head-To-Head
This will be the first time that Notts Outlaws and Middlesex have met in T20 cricket.
The only other sides that Notts haven’t played in the 17 years of the tournament’s history are Glamorgan and Gloucestershire.
Previous Quarter-Finals
Notts Outlaws have reached more quarter-finals than any other side in the history of the domestic T20 competition and can also be proud of the fact that they have have also qualified for more home knock-out matches than anyone else.
Thursday’s meeting with Middlesex will be the 11th time that Notts have featured in the quarter-finals, with 10 of those matches being staged at Trent Bridge.
This decade has been one of near-perfection for the Outlaws, with them advancing from the group stage in nine of the 10 years – only a fifth-placed group finish in 2015 denying a clean sweep.
On each of the last two occasions that Notts have reached Finals Day Samit Patel has been the official man-of-the-match in the winning quarter-final.
Results from Notts Outlaws’ previous quarter-finals (with the official man-of-the-match in brackets):
2006 beat Northants (h) by 63 runs (David Hussey 71)
2007 lost to Kent (h) by 9 wkts (Joe Denly 63*)
2010 beat Sussex (h) by 13 runs (Steven Mullaney 4-0-18-0)
2011 lost to Somerset (h) by 6 wkts (Kieron Pollard 47*)
2012 lost to Hampshire (h) by 4 wkts (Neil McKenzie 79*)
2013 lost to Essex (h) by 47 runs (Ryan ten Doeschate 82)
2014 lost to Hampshire (h) by 5 wkts (James Vince 93*)
2016 beat Essex 5 (h) by 39 runs (Samit Patel 23 & 4-20)
2017 beat Somerset (h) by 5 wkts (Samit Patel 2-26 & 45)
2018 lost to Somerset (a) by 19 runs (Lewis Gregory 60* & 2-29)
Middlesex and their T20 History
This will only be the fourth time that Middlesex have reached the quarter-final stage of the domestic T20 competition.
Starting life as the Middlesex Crusaders, they failed to get out of the South Division in 2003, the inaugural year.
Results improved and two seasons later, 2005, they advanced to the knock-out phase for the first time but lost to Leicestershire Foxes by 19 runs at Grace Road.
In 2008 they won 8 of their 10 group matches but received a blow when they were prevented from playing their home quarter-final against Lancashire Lightning at Lord’s because it was hosting the England v South Africa Test match at the same time.
Temporary accommodation was found at The Oval and a century from Dawid Malan swept the Crusaders to victory by 12 runs.
Their first – and so far only – Finals Day was staged at The Rose Bowl, Southampton, Durham Dynamos were easily defeated in the semi-final and the title was claimed after a 3-run victory over Kent Spitfires.
Owais Shah, with 75, took the man-of-the-match honours. Apart from Malan, there was one other player from the match who still represents the side in T20 cricket, England white-ball captain Eoin Morgan.
Change your name and change your luck.
Ahead of the 2009 event the defending champions switched away from the Crusaders name after complaints from some religious groups.
They became the Middlesex Panthers, a name that became synonymous with disappointment as they failed to reach the quarter-finals at any point between 2009 and 2014.
As ‘just plain and simple’ Middlesex, they returned to the knock-outs in 2016 but were bullied into submission by Ben Duckett’s Northants Steelbacks at Wantage Road.
This season Middlesex finished third in the South Group. They only had one match washed-away and won seven and lost six of the remainder, qualifying in the last round of matches with an epic 227-run chase over Somerset at Taunton.
They now look forward to their fourth T20 quarter-final and first match in the competition against the Outlaws.
Played For Them Both
Dan Christian will, eventually, leave behind an extraordinary legacy from his time as the Outlaws’ T20 captain.
Appointed as skipper in 2016, he led the side to Finals Day that year, won the 2017 tournament in style, reached the quarters last season and has done so, once again, this year.
The 36-year old all-rounder has now played 61 matches in the format for Notts, scoring 1,331 runs at an average of 37, as well as taking 34 wickets with his aggressive medium-fast bowling.
Christian spent the 2014 campaign with Middlesex, playing 14 matches. His highlight as a Panthers player was undoubtedly the brutal 129 he hit from only 57 balls in a match against Kent at Canterbury. His blitz included 12 fours and 10 sixes.
Other players to have represented both Notts and Middlesex include: Vernon Philander, Lance Klusener, Stephen Fleming, David Alleyne, Dirk Nannes, Bob White, Mike Harris, Harry Latchman, Scott Newman, Adam Voges and James Franklin.
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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...