[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

T20 Blast, North Group

vs Nottinghamshire

New Road, Worcester

Worcs innings: Notts won the toss and put the Pears in to bat on a bright-but-muggy June evening with a low ceiling of cloud over New Road. In recent years Worcester pitches have often been slow, sticky puddings in white-ball cricket, and this was a typical specimen that had boundaries at a premium as long as bowlers kept pace off the ball. Brett D'Oliveira was the first casualty, stumped somewhat comically off a wide for 5 as he came down the pitch to Matt Carter; Moeen Ali came out full of positive intent, but was sent right back after a quickfire 6 when Carter bowled him with a ball that seemed to trickle onto the stumps off the skipper's pads. Riki Wessels had by far the most success in the early overs with a couple of well-placed boundaries, but he fell victim to a direct hit on a risky single and trudged back to the pavilion with just 14 to his name, leaving the Pears three down inside the powerplay. From there it was necessarily a circumspect innings: Ben Cox was caught and bowled for 14 just at the point when it seemed like he might kick on, while Ross Whiteley timed his own acceleration a little more prudently, supplying a crucial pair of inventive sixes - one pulled over the shoulder between the keeper and fine leg, and the other smashed into the boundary cushion at deep square - before holing out on the cover boundary for 42 in the final over. Jake Libby, who'd played a huge hand in rebuilding the innings with an assured half-century above a run a ball, milked a single off the third delivery of that last over to reach the unbeaten 52 that he'd finish on, and thus had a front-row seat from which to watch Ed Barnard tackle the last three balls, smoking the first over midwicket for six, paddle-scooping the next over fine leg for four, and then perishing off the last ball of the innings as Worcestershire reached a competitive 152-6.

Notts innings: Displaying a fairly astounding inability to learn the lesson of what had been working for the previous hour-and-half, the Pears came out for the Notts powerplay and promptly set about bowling pace deliveries that Joe Clarke and Alex Hales merrily dispatched to all corners of the ground in a flurry of boundaries that saw the visitors knock off half the required runs in just thirty-five balls. The back of the chase seemed broken, and the subsequent departure of Hales - caught at long-off for 31 off Charlie Morris with the last ball of the powerplay - felt like a cheap consolation prize. The spinners came on from there to shut the door of a decidedly empty stable, and overseas man Ish Sodhi instantly endeared himself to the local crowd by having Clarke caught at long-on for 45. It then became three in three overs when a ball from Moeen Ali skidded on to Ben Duckett's front pad for an easy LBW decision, and the skipper went on to nab a second scalp in the middle overs courtesy of a full-length Superman catch from Ross Whiteley at deep midwicket to dismiss Tom Moores for 12. At 100-4, needing under a run a ball, Notts seemed happy to keep milking the slow stuff for occasional singles, trusting veterans Peter Trego and Samit Patel to get them home; but as the spinners tightened the screw, panic and fatigue appeared to set in. Patel, on a hard-fought 11, was wading through treacle when Trego called him through for a second run in the sixteenth over and had him run out. A decent spell saw Notts close in on victory again, only for Steven Mullaney to slice a Morris delivery to short third man in the penultimate over, exposing the tail right at the death. Needing just three runs from the last four balls, Peter Trego sold Luke Fletcher down the river with a single that was never on, having him run out and bringing Matt Carter to the crease; three needed from three. Josh Tongue followed up with a dot ball - three now needed from two - before Carter scuffed the penultimate ball to the legside, bringing Trego on strike with two runs required off the last delivery. In a near re-run of the World Cup final, Trego hacked the ball into the onside, ran the first safely, but could only watch helpless as the throw to Ben Cox left him stranded, finishing an extraordinary match with honours even.

Match TIED

The Verdict: An incandescent and timely advertisement for the excitement, passion and quality of county-based T20 at a time when the Blast is copping flak from traditionalists and Hundred advocates alike. A riveting and absorbing contest that (quite hilariously, from a Worcs perspective) all but mirrored the 2019 semi-final which Notts also bottled at the death, and made the case for T20 remaining the king among the game's increasingly multifarious sub-three-hour formats. A critical eye must point out that the disastrously misjudged powerplay cost the Pears what might well have been a comfortable win; however, there's no faulting the fightback and the spirit that pulled a result out of the fire to commence this campaign.