Notts Outlaws 194-4 (Duckett 86*, Nash 51) beat Yorkshire Vikings 190 (Fletcher 5-43, Ball 3-36) by six wickets.

When Alex Hales deposited Tom Helm into the Smith Cooper Stand to seal a ten-wicket Quarter Final win last September, who could have imagined that he would be 360 days from striding onto the Trent Bridge turf again?

But, almost a year after Hales and Nash powered the Outlaws into Finals Day against Middlesex, the Green and Golds finally took to their field once more.

As on that famed September evening, there was an autumnal chill in the air.

This time, however, there were neither the pyrotechnics nor the body heat of a 14,000-strong Outlaws faithful to keep the combatants warm.

With a host of England regulars and Blast titans on show, however, there was never any danger of a drop in commitment.

And it was Ben Duckett who shone brightest, his wristy, audacious 86 helping Notts to overhaul a tricky-looking chase of 191.

Duckett’s knock began with Notts in a spot of bother at 16-2. It ended with a sublime dart to the finish line and a six-wicket win.

Yorkshire won the toss and chose to bat on a poverbial Trent Bridge sheet of glass. Matt Carter baffled and dismissed Tom Kohler-Cadmore, but Joe Root and Adam Lyth put on 54 with relish for the second wicket and Notts looked in danger of chasing a landslide.

 

Even if the celebrations were restrained, you could feel a lifting of the Green and Golds’ mood as Dan Christian clung on to a steepler, dismissing the dangerous Lyth.

Duckett was a lively presence on the cover boundary, scurrying to sweep up a succession of shots from Root and Brook. 

From a spell in which the Vikings had found the ropes with regularity, now there was a sense that the momentum of the match was shifting.

Christian’s constriction of the Vikings’ run-rate forced the visitors to live more dangerously.

The return of Jake Ball brought the third wicket, Duckett building on his body of work with a catch to remove Brook.

Luke Fletcher took two in two, luring Will Fraine into a miscue before cleaning up Matthew Fisher for a golden duck.

Ball would return to take two in the next over – cramping Jordan Thompson with his first ball, castling Jonny Tattersall with his last.

And Fletcher’s final over began with Alex Hales pouching a stand-bound heave from Joe Root, before the Bulwell Bomber rearranged George Hill’s stumps to record his maiden T20 five-fer.

 

190 was a not inconsiderable target, but it was one with which those in the White Rose dugout appeared disappointed. 

With Clarke and Hales back in the hutch within 11 balls of the restart, the visitors were quickly cock-a-hoop.

Chris Nash and Ben Duckett’s recovery was swift, the pair taking a particular liking to Jordan Thompson’s first over.

Duckett, ever the innovator, dipped into his inventory of dabs, swipes and reverse sweeps to maintain the scoring rate, including a pair of emphatic maximums. 

Nash, punching and cutting through the off-side, proved a more than capable foil as the pair brought up their half-century stand.

And thereafter, Nash showed the pedigree that has made him a leading light in the county game’s T20 era.

 

A carve past third man for four; successive pulls over the Fox Road rope for six; and the most satisfying of singles, with the fielders having surrendered to the boundary’s edge, to conclude Pillans’ over.

The right-hander sealed his fifty from the first ball of Jordan Thompson’s second over, his third half-century in his last four Outlaws' innings.

He departed two deliveries later, but that was merely the cue for Duckett to seize the initiative.

The southpaw took 17 from the thirteenth over to reach his fifty, and keep Notts firmly in the hunt.

 

Dan Christian’s quickfire cameo of 21 from 11 was vital, but Duckett was the heartbeat of the hosts’ chase.

Tom Moores wowed 40,000 concurrent stream viewers with a pair of rasping cover-drives, but the Outlaws' showman-in-chief was only too happy to concede centre-stage for the climax of this particular show.

Five were needed off the final over. Ball one was flicked audaciously over the head of the stranded keeper. Ball two, a casual leg-side whip to finish the job.

Set a field to Ben Duckett if you can. Had a Bank Holiday crowd have been permitted, they'd have been whipped thrice into a frenzy.

View the scorecard, watch the highlights and relive the action here...

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