Nottinghamshire CCC - The return of DaveK

[DaveK93]

Nottinghamshire vs Derbyshire

Squad News:
Same team, we could do with a win here.



Toss:
Derbyshire win the toss and choose to bat first.

Derbys Innings:
Once again, our death bowling was poor, as we struggled to remove Wainwright and Shone at the death. Durston was also a major obstacle for us, but 243-6 was about par for the pitch, so I’m not too disappointed. The batting talent we should be enough to cope with it at least.

Notts Innings:
We were hard pushed to get victory, but we just about managed it. A slow start saw us under pressure, but Patel and Taylor stepped up, and some quick hitting saw a partnership form. Patel stuck by Lumb as well, before departing shortly after Chris Read arrived at the crease. He guided the tailend for a bit, before Swann became the senior partner. With 7 overs and 33 to chase with 2 wickets in hand, we called for the powerplay, which turned out to be a masterstroke. It allowed Swann to open the face of the bat, and despite losing Payne, Coles proved adequate enough to see us home. A good match.



Batting Award:
Samit Patel – His innings gave us the backbone for our chase.

Bowling Award:
Samit Patel – Samit gets the bowling award as well, after some good, economical bowling in the middle overs.

Points:
Notts 2, Derbys 0

[DaveK93]

Nottinghamshire vs Leicestershire

Squad News:



Mitch McClenaghan and Sunil Narine both make their Notts T20 debuts, and Ramshaw comes in for his first appearance of the season. Risky tactic in dropping Swann, but he is out of form, and some time off will do him good

Toss:
Leicestershire win the toss and elect to bowl first.

Notts Innings:
We were disappointingly under par in this. I would have preferred to bowl first anyway, but only Taylor managed over 30. 146 was about 10-15 runs short of where I would have liked to be at the interval, but we have to hope that we can take early wickets, and halt the Leics chase in its tracks.

Leics Innings:
So much for halting the chase. We didn’t really make much of an impact, and we go home with our tails between our legs. We need to improve if we intend to hold on to our T20 title.



Batting Award:
James Taylor – A quick half century gave us hope.

Bowling Award:
Sunil Narine – 2 wickets on debut for the West Indian

Points:
Notts 0, Leics 2

[DaveK93]

Nottinghamshire vs Lancashire

Squad News:
No changes for this one, although there will be in future if we don’t improve



Toss:
Notts win the toss and bowl first

Lancs Innings:
Once again, we started well, McClenaghan and Coles bowling cheaply. However, we struggled in the middle overs, and Carberry and Croft got settled, and managed to get runs. We got a few wickets at the end of the innings, preventing further damage, but we let them get away a bit. Patel took a bit of stick from Croft in particular, and I’ll be considering the merits of bringing Swann in for Patel, at the expense of some batting depth.

Notts Innings:
We started well, Hales getting settled quickly. Other batsmen struggled, but Lumb and Hales managed to get set and push us nearer to the total. The run rate slowed at the end though, and we were left with 12 to get with 6 balls left. Lumb fell on the 2nd ball after getting a 4, but Broad was able to able to give the strike to Read, whose 6, and then a single gave us the win on the last ball. An exciting finish for the crowd, and we get some points on the board



Batting Award:
Michael Lumb – got settled quickly after a spate of wickets

Bowling Award:
Mitch McClenaghan – Great bowling at the start, works well in tandem with Coles

[DaveK93]

Nottinghamshire vs Derbyshire

Squad News:



Patels economy rate is only 6.25 so far, so he keeps his place. Ramshaw is replaced by Murray though, his poor form costing him.

Toss:
Derbys win the toss and bat first

Derbys Innings:
We bowled very well, and were only ousted by the bowlers. Clare and Shone, a player who only came through last year, attacked Coles and McClenaghan’s bowling to get 30ish runs each. Previous to that, Narine had ripped the heart out of the batting with 4-25, his best performance since joining. He’s on a cheap contract, and looks like a very good signing.

Notts Innings:
We started badly, losing Hales, Patel, Taylor and Murray cheaply. Burridge and Lumb managed to get a partnership going though, and despite Burridge going for 27, Lumb saw us home until he was run-out by McClenaghan with a run to go.



Batting Award:
Michael Lumb – Having a great T20 campaign having reinvented himself at no. 6 for the team

Bowling Award:
Sunil Narine – shattered the bulk of the batting order, and at 87-6, we looked really good.

Points:
Notts 2, Derbys 0

[DaveK93]

Nottinghamshire vs Durham

Squad News:



Michael Lumb moves up the order as Porterfield comes in for Murray. Gayle and Guptill are back, but miss out for the T20 specialists who are in fine form. James Fuller also comes in for Broad, who is joining up with the England set up.

Toss:
Notts win the toss and bowl

Durham Innings:
My decision to leave Gayle out ahead of McClenaghan and Narine was thoroughly justified. Mitch got 4-18 from his 4 to stop any chance of a Durham total being competitive, especially when Ben Stokes was run out without scoring. Narine also picked up a wicket as well, for less than 6 an over, as the bowling unit clicked beautifully.

Notts Innings:
We also struggled with batting as well, but yet again Michael Lumb was as calm as ever, and he got his half century with the winning run. Burridge also got a couple of useful runs, and Read was able to survive at the end to clinch the win.



Batting Award:
Michael Lumb – yet another class performance with the bat

Bowling Award:
Mitch McClenaghan – 4-18 in a T20, will definitely be looking to resign him

Points:
Notts 2, Durham 0

Aside:
Mitch currently has 9 wickets at 12.11 with an economy rate of 6.83, Narine has 8@ 14.00 with an economy of 7. Very impressed with my T20 signings this season. Also, Michael Lumb currently has 158 runs @ 52.67, with 2 half centuries, and a strike rate of 161.21, his highest score being 57. Definitely our star batsman this season, who needs Gayle?!

[DaveK93]

Nottinghamshire vs Somerset
Squad News:



Gayle is back for us, hopefully now for the rest of the season. We play 4 seamers as well, at the risk of a deep tail. However, Fletcher has batted well this season, and Swann has batted well in the past so we should be ok. Lumb keeps his place in the team after some good form, and Burridge is in, albeit down the order.

Toss:
Somerset win the toss and bat first

Day 1:
The 4 seamer approach worked, as Somerset were 65-6 at lunch. Coles and Fletcher were superb form, Coles getting 3-7, and Fletcher 1-10. Swann was 1-7 and a run out of Buttler meant that Somerset are in real trouble.
Peter Trego ended up rescuing Somerset, but they still got no batting points, finishing on 198. In response, Gayle and Lumb dealt with the early departure of Hales by getting half centuries, as we closed the day out on 131-1

Day 2:
There was no stopping Michael Lumb. He got the first double century of my reign, before finally being run out for 212. Good innings for Gayle (96) and Taylor (63) gave good support, and we put on an imposing total. We then compounded Somerset’s misery by removing Tresco at the end of the day, leaving them on 31-1.

Day 3:
Somerset failed to get to 200 again, as they collapsed to an innings defeat. Coles and Fuller were yet again the main cause of damage. That incredible first session went some way to giving us victory in this match.



Batting Award:
Michael Lumb – The man knows no boundaries.

Bowling Award:
Matt Coles – Great across both innings, really taking to his role as an opening bowler.

Points:
Somerset 2, Notts 24

[DaveK93]

Youth Intake:

I love my academy. 3 new guys in this season, a batsman and 2 bowlers. Let me introduce you to them:

Glenn Hollins:
21 year old batsman, with an average of 89.22 in 22 second team matches. He has 10 centuries so far, with a high score 242. I think he will be the natural successor to Lumb in the heart of my batting order.

Paul Jefferson:
A right medium-fast bowler, who has played 30 2nd XI matches. He averages 13.91 with an economy of 2.7, taking 94 wickets. The 22 year old looks like he could be a star of the future.

Daniel Carver:
Another 22 year old bowler, Carver bowls right arm over, medium pacers. In 29 matches, he’s got an average of 29.53, an economy of 3.5, taking 74 wickets. Again, this guy has potential.

Needless to say, I'm quite excited by these new prospects. Expect to see them featuring for the team before the end of the season.

[DaveK93]

Nottinghamshire vs Leicestershire

Squad News:



Hollins and Jefferson both make debuts. Mitch and Narine return, so Gayle misses out.

Toss:
Notts win the toss and elect to bat first.

Notts Innings:
The two Notts trainees performed well, as Burridge stepped up at the top of the order, and Hollins came so close to a debut half century. Runs for Cole as well saw us post 156, but we could have got more, especially at the run-rate we were going at.

Leicestershire Innings:
What a debut for Jefferson! He got 4-27 as he stopped any chance of Leics continuing their fine start to the innings. He and Mitch bowled 8 solid overs between them, picking up 8 wickets. A good performance from the youngster, and another great performance by Mitch.



Batting Award:
Glenn Hollins – Unlucky not to get his half century, did well at no. 4.

Bowling Award:
Paul Jefferson – his first wicket sparked a major batting collapse.

Points:
Notts 2, Leics 0

[DaveK93]

Nottinghamshire vs Middlesex

Squad News:



All change for Notts in this FC match. Hollins and Jefferson make their debuts in the 4 day format, and Gayle returns, with the intention that he’ll bowl if required.

Toss:
We win the toss and bat first

Day 1:
Gayle and Hales dominated play on day 1, getting a 1st wicket partnership of 193. Gayle got a solid century, and with runs from most of the batting order, including Hollins who got 29, we look good. Taylor and Swann were at the crease at the end of play, as we finished on 352-6

Day 2:
We struggled as Middlesex got 326-7. Jefferson and Swann bowled well, picking 2 wickets up each, but the others were expensive, and we were getting smashed around the park. Wickets fell with the new ball though, and we have to exploit the conditions on day 3.

Day 3:
So I’d expected the pitch to alter, but not that drastically. After Middlesex were all out, we went into bat feeling we could post a decent target to chase. Instead we crumbled, and we set a target of 182. It would have been less had it not been for Swann and Taylor, who established a good partnership to at least give us a chance.
The poor total we posted inspired our bowlers. Coles in particular wasn’t prepared to lie down, and ripped the first three wickets out quickly. Wickets for Jefferson, Swann and Fuller also helped as Middlesex were 99-7. Were there pitch inspectors in this game, this track would be under serious questioning right now.

Day 4:
Middlesex put up a good fight, but Coles finished his 5for, and Jefferson got a wicket, as we claimed another win. We are still unbeaten in FC matches so far, but we have been pushing our luck a bit.



Batting Award:
Chris Gayle – Great century to kick things off. Special mention to James Taylor and Graeme Swann though, they formed two great partnerships to give us that little bit extra.

Bowling Award:
Matt Coles/Paul Jefferson – I can’t decide between the two, Coles for his devastating spell at the start of the second innings, or Jefferson for his debut 5for in the first innings.

Points:
Middlesex 7, Notts 23

[DaveK93]

Nottinghamshire vs Durham

Squad News:



Mitch returns for this, as does Narine, Gayle yet again missing out. Lumb and Hollins are interchangeable in the order depending on the score needed.

Toss:
Notts win the toss and bowl

Durham Innings:
Jefferson is fast becoming our star T20 bowler. 3-23 from four, and two wickets in his first over. Mitch and Narine also did well, and we did well to limit Durham on a batting pitch

Notts Innings:
The innings was a bit hit and miss really, with regular wickets. Taylor and Hales created a partnership, but they fell within a short space of time of each other, and we looked down and out. However, up stepped Graeme Swann. His explosive batting, alongside Matt Coles, took us over the line, for 2 more points. Is there no end to his talents?



Batting Award:
Graeme Swann – Game saving innings

Bowling Award:
Paul Jefferson – yet another good performance from the youngster, looking forward to seeing his progress

Points:
Durham 0, Notts 2

[DaveK93]

Nottinghamshire vs Yorkshire

Squad News:



Samit returns, replacing Narine. Gayle comes in so Burridge can take a break.

Toss:
Yorks win the toss and bowl

Notts Innings:
Gayle showed what he could do getting a quickfire 42, but we struggled with the bat. Taylor managed to get runs, and there were cameos from Hollins and Jefferson, but at this stage, I’m disappointed with how we played.

Yorks Innings:
Swann managed to deliver with the ball this time, as he picked up 4 wickets. Jefferson also bowled brilliantly as well, getting 2-13. His average so far is 9, with an economy of 5.25. Apart from Jaques, Yorkshire failed to get going, similar to us, and they collapsed just short. A low scoring game, but no less entertaining.



Batting Award:
C Gayle – The big man finally joins the party

Bowling Award:
G Swann – some much needed wickets for the popular off spinner

Points:
Notts 2, Yorks 0

[KGKOOLKAT777]

Nottinghamshire vs Yorkshire

Squad News:



Samit returns, replacing Narine. Gayle comes in so Burridge can take a break.

Toss:
Yorks win the toss and bowl

Notts Innings:
Gayle showed what he could do getting a quickfire 42, but we struggled with the bat. Taylor managed to get runs, and there were cameos from Hollins and Jefferson, but at this stage, I’m disappointed with how we played.

Yorks Innings:
Swann managed to deliver with the ball this time, as he picked up 4 wickets. Jefferson also bowled brilliantly as well, getting 2-13. His average so far is 9, with an economy of 5.25. Apart from Jaques, Yorkshire failed to get going, similar to us, and they collapsed just short. A low scoring game, but no less entertaining.



Batting Award:
C Gayle – The big man finally joins the party

Bowling Award:
G Swann – some much needed wickets for the popular off spinner

Points:
Notts 2, Yorks 0

Like the look of your youth players. Definitely ones to look out for.

[DaveK93]

Like the look of your youth players. Definitely ones to look out for.

Jefferson is looking incredibly good and Hollins is still settling in. Carver isn't bad, and should get his chance before the season finishes

[DaveK93]

Nottinghamshire vs Derbyshire

Squad News:



I keep faith with the winning team of the last match.

Toss:
Notts win the toss and bat.

Notts Innings:
We were very poor with the bat, and once again we were indebted to Michael Lumb. His 70 no gave us a good total, through partnerships with Taylor, and Mitch at the end of the innings. It’s a good total, just over par for these pitch conditions I’d reckon.

Derbys Innings:
Matt Coles was not prepared to stop at anything for victory. His 5-36 in four straight overs crippled the Derbys Innings completely. Hughes and Shone managed to make it look more respectable but it was largely futile. Wickets for Swann and Jefferson saw us complete another victory, and qualification for the quarter finals



Batting Award:
Michael Lumb – Cool head under pressure

Bowling Award:
Matt Coles – Devastating bowling at the start

Points:
Notts 2, Derbys 0

[DaveK93]

Nottinghamshire vs Yorkshire

Squad News:



All change for this match now I can’t be toppled from the top of the group. I’ll let you look at the squad sheet, it’ll be quicker.

Toss:
Notts won the toss and bowl

Yorks Innings:
We didn’t really make the most of the bowling conditions, and Joe Root exploited that in getting 70, before Carver claimed him as his first wicket. Jefferson’s first over contained two run-outs, but he was uncharacteristically expensive, as was Broad and Mitch. Still, the target is chaseable.

Notts Innings:
Well, it was close. McGregor and Hollins did their chance of a first team place no harm at all, but Ramshaw, Hammett and Burridge failed, leaving serious questions about their future. We fell just short in the end, but there were a few good performances, so I can take heart from the performance.



Batting Award:
B McGregor – Good performance from the youngster, didn’t think he was cut out for this format

Bowling Award:
D Carver – Good performance on debut

Points:
Notts 0, Yorks 2