Trent Rockets captain Lewis Gregory praised the unwavering support of the Trent Bridge crowds, who very nearly cheered their side to a final-ball victory in Nottingham.

A cluster of wickets in the closing over saw Welsh Fire clinch an unlikely victory, much to the frustration of the Rockets skipper.

“It’s disappointing, we got ourselves in a position to win another game and we couldn’t get ourselves over the line,” Gregory said.

“It’s a short tournament, so we need to correct things quickly. We’re doing a lot of things really well, there’s just a few things that we need to tweak and hopefully we’ll be back on winning ways.

“It’s tough to take, but we’ll bounce back on Wednesday.”

But the unrelenting roar of the Trent Bridge masses was no less appreciated by the Rockets, Gregory emphasising their role as a home crowd: “It’s a great place to play cricket, the crowds and support we get are amazing.

“They willed us to get over the line tonight, but it wasn’t quite meant to be. It’s amazing to feel their support.

“We definitely feel it on the field. You feel like they’re with you like an extra man. Hopefully we can give them a win in the last two home games and finish strong to reach the knockouts.”

For the lion's share of the contest it were the Rockets sitting in the driver's seat, a Luke-for-Luke exchange in the form of Wood removing Wells on just the second ball giving the hosts an early upper hand.

Not long after, Trent Bridge's own Joe Clarke was bowled by former Notts Outlaws team mate Imad Wasim, but opener and World Cup winner Jonny Bairstow took charge with a commanding half-century to steady Fire's innings before being caught by Sam Cook short of the boundary.

Joe Root proved highly effective with the ball - conceding less than a run per delivery - and claimed the scalp of Tom Abell to get his just rewards with the first ball of his final spell.

Sam Cook picked up two wickets in the death overs to see the back of Phillips and Willey, and the Rockets would have felt confident at the interval needing 130 to win.

But despite an assertive and calm start with the bat - Notts' Alex Hales sending Willey and Henry for maximums in back-to-back overs - Fire forced their way back into the contest, finding wickets at regular enough intervals to stifle the charge. Nottinghamshire’s Joe Clarke pulled off a slick piece of fielding to combine with wicketkeeping Bairstow to dismiss Root as tension began to build in the final 50 balls.

Rovman Powell did his best to rally the troops in a brief cameo before both Rashid Khan and Lewis Gregory struck maximums to keep the affair tonight. 

The death overs proved to be their undoing yet again, though. Three wickets on the bounce between David Payne and Haris Rauf were enough to derail the final charge, as yet another clash went down to the wire.

“We’ve got the players and the character to win these types of games,” Gregory added, “there’s just a few things we haven’t got right in those moments.

“We’ve got guys who can win games on their own, we’ve shown that in pieces but we need to see more of it. The guys back themselves to turn things around.”