Joe Clarke and Matt Montgomery struck fifties as Notts Outlaws fired on all cylinders to open their 2023 Vitality Blast campaign with a home win over local rivals Derbyshire Falcons.
Chasing the visitors’ 178/6, the Outlaws overhauled their target with three full overs to spare as Clarke blasted 68 and Montgomery slammed 51, with both facing only 29 deliveries each.
Steven Mullaney earlier picked up two wickets to be the pick of the Notts bowlers in restricting the visitors after Wayne Madsen and Luis Reece had hit half-centuries themselves.
Despite fielding first on a gloriously bright Nottingham evening, there was early joy for the Outlaws as debutant Conor McKerr saw Haider Ali miscue to Matt Montgomery for one in the second over.
However, the visitors spent the remainder of the powerplay demonstrating why they had chosen to bat first, as Reece and Madsen’s hitting saw them reach 56/1 after six overs.
That was also the exact moment of their 50 partnership, and the pair continued to march on, bringing up the team century in the tenth over, just moments after Madsen had cut for four to post his fifty.
The next milestone was the century partnership, which came via a Madsen slog sweep for six, before Reece repeated the same shot to hit his half-century in 30 balls.
Joy returned for the hosts in the same over, however, as Steven Mullaney induced Madsen slapping to Clarke at cover for 61 to break the stand.
That precipitated a strong fightback from the Outlaws, as Reece fell to Montgomery’s spin a short while later, caught by Hales at long off for 53.
Leus du Plooy and Anuj Dal were both dismissed for single figures, removed by Matt Carter and Mullaney, respectively, to strongly check the Falcons’ progress at 142/5.
Star overseas signing Shaheen Afridi then picked up his first wicket in Outlaws colours to beat Aneurin Donald all ends up and pin him lbw.
It was only some late hitting from Mattie McKiernan that enabled the visitors to end their innings with some air of competitiveness, having been restricted to 60/5 from their final nine overs.
The Outlaws got off to a confident start in their chase, as openers Clarke and Alex Hales raced to 30 without loss, though it was what happened next that truly lit up Trent Bridge.
When Mark Watt stepped up to bowl the innings’ fourth over, Clarke was on 14*, but by the end of it, he had bulldozed his way to 40*, as every single delivery was dispatched to the fence.
Even the removal of Hales, caught by Zaman Khan off Zak Chappell, failed to dent Clarke’s charge, as he put George Scrimshaw to the sword with another 20 off the final over of the powerplay.
Contained within that was his fifty, reached in 23 balls via a gigantic strike high above the covers, but just as he continued on the charge in the next over, he was adjudged to be lbw to Chappell.
However, the decision only served to bring together Montgomery and Colin Munro, who busily set about chipping into the remainder of the target.
When they came together, the Outlaws needed 92; by the time they were separated by Scrimshaw’s catch of Munro for 23 off Khan, they had added 60 in 5.4 overs.
Montgomery became the second Notts half-centurion of the night shortly after, taking a calm single to midwicket off Chappell with the first ball of the 16th.
That left the required runs in single figures, and as victory became inevitable with seven taken off Chappell’s final over, the joyous crowd began to drink it in.
Despite Scrimshaw taking three wickets in what turned out to be the innings’ final over, the Outlaws were ultimately able to cross the line comfortably as Samit Patel hit the winning four.
