A nail-biting affair at New Road saw Notts Outlaws undone by excellent work in the field from Worcestershire Rapids, as the hosts clinched victory with nine deliveries to spare on a dry and fair Thursday evening despite a well-measured response with the ball from Peter Moores’ side.
With Colin Munro and Samit Patel unable to take part - the former awaiting scan results regarding his hamstring - Lyndon James came into the team whilst Haseeb Hameed was handed his first professional T20 appearance.
Worcestershire will have felt pleased with their election to bowl with the toss falling in their favour, as the hosts began in rapid fashion. Talisman Alex Hales was caught in behind with just the second ball of the contest, before Santner removed Lyndon James with a fine delivery in the following over.
40/2 at the end of powerplay, the rocky start soon settled and Matthew Montgomery paired well with Joe Clarke to form a handy seven-over partnership of 53, but the upward momentum for the visitors was ended prematurely when Clarke’s top-edged shot was caught by Pat Brown.
Montgomery followed Clarke off the field two overs later, as he too fell victim to Brett D’Oliveira, signalling a difficult upward climb for the visiting Outlaws.
Pressure fell on the shoulders of debutante Hameed, who scrambled together a handy 18 from 17 deliveries with a maiden boundary before Kashif Ali’s catch handed Santner his second wicket of the evening.
Pat Brown was next to take centre stage for the Rapids, smelling an 18th-over hat-trick with Calvin Harrison cleanly dispatched following skipper Steven Mullaney’s departure the ball prior, but incoming Matt Carter edged Brown to the boundary to avoid suffering a similar fate.
A vital 15-run final over from Moores and Carter brought the final total to 139/8 for the visitors, setting Worcestershire 140 to win.
Afridi opened with the ball for Notts in the second half of the fixture, limiting Worcestershire to just two runs in the first over - but the positive start was soon long forgotten as D’Oliveira fired four consecutive boundaries in a sudden Rapids surge to 27 without reply.
Jake Ball claimed the first wicket, removing Jack Haynes who was caught in the field by Shaheen Afridi, but D’Oliveira continued to cause trouble in the middle as Notts searched for the opportunity to remove the other allrounder.
Matthew Carter’s bowl-and-catch to dismiss Mitchell Santner began a flurry of wickets for Notts, soon followed by the all important wicket of Brett D’Oliveira with a well-taken catch by Hameed, and the Worcester crowd began to sense a turn in the tide.
Kashif Ali and Ben Cox were then both given their marching orders within the space of four deliveries, clean-bowled by Mullaney and Harrison as the Outlaws maintained belief that victory was still within their grasp.
Then entered Ed Pollock who, alongside Adam Hose, drove the home side to hard-fought victory with the best partnership of the Worcestershire innings - 60 from 42 balls - clinching the points with just nine balls to spare as the closely-run affair reached its conclusion.
On the other side of an LV= Insurance County Championship contest at Somerset, the Outlaws will have home comforts on their side as they welcome Birmingham Bears and Leicestershire Foxes to Trent Bridge for their final group stage games, hoping for a place in the Vitality Blast quarter-finals.
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