HAYNES AND MOORES TEAM UP TO SEE OUTLAWS BOW OUT WITH A WIN

Jack Haynes’ unbeaten half-ton, supported by a quick-scoring Tom Moores (30*), backed up an all-round performance with the ball as Notts Outlaws ended their Metro Bank One Day Cup campaign with a five-wicket win over Warwickshire.

In a match that was continuously affected by rain, Liam Patterson-White and Rob Lord’s respective three-wicket hauls with the ball saw Warwickshire all out for 182. A challenging chase in wet conditions made for an intriguing finish, as it took a sixth-wicket partnership to push Notts ahead of the DLS par score by 13 runs when the rain came down again for one final decisive time.

Ed Barnard made a quick start for Warwickshire with the bat but James Hayes broke up the opening partnership by removing Zen Malik, who was caught behind by Tom Moores diving low to his left. 

Barnard’s quick-scoring spell ended as well soon after as Rob Lord opened his account for the day, trapping the Warwickshire batsman LBW for 31. 

Will Rhodes in at three then added 22 from 42 in a solid partnership with Michael Burgess before he was run out in extraordinary fashion by Jack Haynes, whose long-range throw at the stumps made a direct hit from an acute angle with Rhodes unable to ground his bat in time on his return for two runs. 

Chris Benjamin and Burgess stuck around long enough to create a meaningful pairing before Liam Patterson-White removed Burgess’ bails, clipping the top of his off stump with a dizzying lengthy delivery. 

After 25 overs Warwickshire were 102/4 and Benjamin looked strong at the crease, until Matt Montgomery came into the attack as Notts picked up a flurry of wickets.

Benjamin was the first to go as he picked out Freddie McCann at deep mid-wicket while looking to accelerate the run rate, and McCann then took an identical catch to hand Montgomery his second scalp just two balls later.

Patterson-White continued the riot two balls after that, as he found the pad of Theo Wylie for 1, the hosts 127/6 and Notts chomping at the bit to finish off the lower order. 

Three overs later, Patterson-White picked up his third and final wicket of the afternoon as he found Michael Booth’s outside edge which was caught well low down at second slip by Sammy King, but Jake Lintott and Tazeem Ali then combined for a 41-run ninth wicket stand, an unwanted partnership for Notts which took their target closer to a more defendable 200.

Rob Lord came back into the attack to end the rebellion as Lintott clipped to Patterson-White, before Michael Rae was caught in the deep two balls later for Lord's third. 

The hosts set Outlaws 183 to take victory, the chase commenced by Ben Slater and Freddie McCann after a 50 minute lunch break.

McCann fell early though as he in the third over his drive went straight into the hands of Wylie and mid-wicket off the bowling of Ed Barnard. 

Ben Slater, who passed 3,000 List A runs during his time at the crease, also fell just two overs later as Michael Booth found his outside edge, superbly taken by Burgess behind the stumps diving to his left as Slater departed for 16.

Captain Haseeb Hameed's strive to end his impressive One Day Cup campaign with a high score was then cut short as he was caught at backwards point for 11. The skipper adamant that the ball hadn't carried, but after careful deliberation the umpires gave Hameed his marching orders.

Soon after Matt Montgomery was caught for 5 off the bowling of Lintott; it would be the final ball before the rain returned as the players were sent to the pavilion and the covers rolled on, Outlaws 56/4 from 13 overs at the time.

After being off the pitch for 45 minutes, play resumed and Notts’ target was adjusted to 173 from 38 overs, a further 117 therefore needed from just over 25 overs. 

The chase was dampened further as Sam King departed just an over after play restarted for just 2 as he was given out lbw from the bowling of Lintott. 

Despite the wickets falling around him, Jack Haynes steadied himself to make sure he could ensure his side were still in the game, taking his time but also taking the opportunities to score when he could.

When joined by Tom Moores at the crease, the pair shared the same approach and runs started to flow more regularly. The pair soon moved to a 50 partnership and Haynes reached his half-century from 64 balls. 

With 10 overs remaining, the rain began to come down heavy once again and the covers returned. However only 38 runs behind, Notts were 13 runs ahead of par on DLS and Haynes’ and Moores’ partnership stood on 73. 

After almost half-an-hour, the umpires finally called the end of play which saw Notts win by five wickets by DLS method, the Outlaws finishing fourth in the Group B table with eight points. 

The end of their One Day Cup campaign sees the return of red ball cricket next week, as they travel to Chester-le-Street to face Durham in the Vitality County Championship next Thursday.