Following a first loss in 11 games for Notts Outlaws, Peter Moores believes his side can channel the feeling of defeat to come out fighting in future games.

“The main thing we’ll take from it is to remind ourselves what losing feels like,” began Moores. “It doesn’t feel very nice, and we’ll use that to make sure we’re pushing as hard as we can for a win the next time out.”

Defeat came in narrow circumstances against Leicestershire Foxes at Grace Road, with the Outlaws going down by two wickets with two balls to spare in an engrossing contest.

“Credit to them, I thought they played really well,” said Moores. “They bowled well to start with, and then came out aggressively with the bat at the start of their innings.

“We nearly got ourselves back in it when they were chasing, especially when Steven Mullaney was bowling, because the game looked lost when he came on.”

Mullaney finished with figures of three for 33 from his four overs, but Moores underlined his belief that his captain’s performance was not a one-off.

“Steve’s had a great tournament,” said Moores. “He stepped in when Dan Christian couldn’t come, and he’s led from the front all the way through.”

The returning pair of Joe Clarke and Ben Duckett, who hit 57 and 45, respectively, also came in for praise from Moores, with Clarke in particular singled out by the Head Coach.

“Joe Clarke has been outstanding for us over the last 12 months, and he showed his quality again tonight," said Moores. 

"I thought we batted really well up front, with Joe alongside Ben Duckett, and those two played beautifully.

“It wasn’t an easy pitch, admittedly we would have liked to have had a bowl first on it too, but credit to those lads, and especially Joe.”

Moores believes Clarke’s aggressive ability serves the Outlaws well in the white-ball arena, and he was full of praise for the way the opener went about his business at Grace Road.

“He faced down some tough opening bowling before taking that one over for 20, which allowed us to finish the powerplay really strongly," said Moores.

“He laid us a fantastic platform, we were 110 for two after ten overs and that’s a great position to be in. It’s disappointing we weren’t able to back him up as much as we’d have liked.

“We got ourselves in a great position, but we just lost wickets. It happens sometimes, and what we all want to do now is look ahead and push hard for a win the next time we go out there.”

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The recent victory over Yorkshire Vikings at Trent Bridge secured Notts Outlaws a Vitality Blast home quarter final for the tenth time in 12 seasons.

Details of the fixture will be announced in due course. Register your interest in tickets here…