MATCH PREVIEW: Notts Outlaws v Lancashire Lightning
Nottinghamshire and Lancashire meet for the second time inside a week.
Nottinghamshire Outlaws v Lancashire Lightning
Vitality Blast, North Group
Sunday June 4, 2023, 3pm
Trent Bridge
The Lightning beat the Outlaws at Emirates Old Trafford last week, and unfortunately since then Liam Livingstone’s side have been on a three-game losing streak - all away from home, including at Durham last night by six wickets.
It means they head into this fixture with a record of three wins and three defeats so far in the North Group.
Lancashire have actually won the last three matches against Notts, including completing the double over them last season.
These are the two most successful teams in English T20 history in terms of matches won, both winning 138 matches.
The Outlaws have lost their last two games. While Lancashire were beaten at Durham last night, Notts were beaten at home by Worcestershire (56 runs).
Jack Blatherwick has joined up with the squad with both Saqib Mahmood and Luke Wells set to miss out.
Opposition:
There would have been few who would have predicted how the last week would have gone for Lancashire and Nottinghamshire, both perennial challengers in this competition.
Notts, two-time champions in 2017 and 2020, were amongst the favourites for this year’s competition. But they have also had a mixed start, winning two and losing three.
After losing to Lancashire last Saturday, they also lost to Yorkshire on Tuesday and last night Worcestershire, who racked up 226-5.
They have signed Pakistani quick Shaheen Shah Afridi and New Zealand batter Colin Munro as their overseas players, with ex-Lancashire all-rounder Steven Mullaney as captain and Peter Moores as coach.
Notts missed out on the quarter-finals last year for only the second time in 13 seasons.
Opposing player to watch:
The Moores name is synonymous with Lancashire Cricket, coach Peter winning the County Championship title with the Red Rose in 2011.
Peter is in charge of Nottinghamshire tonight, but we will take a look at another familiar name and face to Lightning fans. In Peter’s son Tom, Notts have a wicketkeeper-batter who has caught the eye regularly over the last few seasons.
He spent a short time on loan with Lancashire in 2016, playing Blast cricket during his time at Emirates Old Trafford.
At the time, he was on the Notts Academy and an England Under 19. Now aged 26, Moores has developed into a first choice keeper and a swashbuckling middle order left-handed batter.
Moores has progressed through to play for the England Lions and at some franchise tournaments around the world.
He hit a consolatory season’s best 41 not out at Emirates Old Trafford last week and has added 32 in a victory over Durham since.
Previous meeting:
Daryl Mitchell’s stunning unbeaten 85 helped Lancashire to a statement victory by 22 runs over Nottinghamshire at Emirates Old Trafford last Saturday as the Lightning won their third successive game at the start of the Blast.
The New Zealand international all-rounder lit up a North Group fixture between the two counties with the most match victories in the 20-year history of this competition, helping Lancashire to an unassailable total of 208-4 and win number 138 to Notts’ 137. That stat has since been levelled up.
Mitchell mixed power with finesse as the hosts sailed beyond 200. He hit six sixes in 41 balls and was supported by useful contributions from England duo Phil Salt 34 and Liam Livingstone 32.
Notts were hurt by dropping four catches - three of them reprieving Mitchell on seven, 32 and 79. Captain Steven Mullaney was twice a culprit.
Former Outlaw Luke Wood yorked Alex Hales for a duck with a beauty of an in-swinger three balls into a chase which was revitalised by Colin Munro’s blistering 60 off 29 balls before it finished short on 186-5. England left-arm quick Wood finished with 2-29.
What they said:
Steven Croft is hoping Lancashire can draw inspiration from recent successes against the Outlaws as they bid to arrest a three-game losing streak in the North Group.
Croft top-scored with 34 at Durham last night, a game in which the Lightning were restricted to 152-9 before the hosts achieved their target for the loss of four wickets with 10 balls remaining.
He said: “We haven't got a win away from Emirates Old Trafford, but we have good momentum against Notts, so we'll try and turn it around there.
“We just need someone to put a hand up to take a game by the scruff of the neck to get a win.
“It was a disappointing night (Durham).
“We were a little bit short with the bat and ball.
“They assessed the conditions a lot better than us. I felt that we were 10 to 15 runs short with the bat, and obviously, we didn't bowl as they did on their home patch.
“It's something we have to turn around quite quickly.”
How’s Stat:
Luke Wood, Lancashire’s former Nottinghamshire fast bowler, is just five wickets away from 250 in his senior career across all formats.
That includes 106 wickets in T20 cricket, 134 in first-class and just five in List A cricket.
If he reaches that mini-milestone in this fixture, you feel like the Red Rose would be well on the way to winning.