Michael Lumb (53) and Riki Wessels (58) both made devastating half-centuries for Nottinghamshire Outlaws, as they secured a tight two-wicket victory at Trent Bridge over Lancashire Lightning.
The duo added a 100-run partnership for the opening wicket in less than nine overs to help the Outlaws chase 185, as the home side secured their first NatWest T20 blast win of the season. Lancashire made 184/4 after being made to bat first, with Jos Buttler scoring an eye-catching and unbeaten 59 from 25 balls, but it wasn't enough to prevent a third defeat in four matches for the reigning champions.
It was Lancashire's highest score against Nottinghamshire in a Twenty20 match and it put them in a strong position at the halfway stage, but Lumb and Wessels - who top-scored with 58 from 31 balls - combined with a ruthless partnership to put the hosts on course for victory. Lancashire then fought back superbly, taking eight wickets for 68 runs to put them in with a chance of achieving an unlikely victory, but the Lightning were penalised for bowling slow and this changed the complexion of the match.
Rather than needing 15 runs with only two wickets left in the final over, Notts needed only nine runs to win and when Sam Wood hit Arron Lilley for a six, the home side were within touching distance of victory. Buttler shared an unbroken partnership worth 59 runs from 25 balls with Steven Croft (16*) to help the Red Rose reach a commanding total, but the hitting of Lumb and Wessels left a significant dent in Lancashire's chances, as the hosts cruised to 72/0 after the first six overs.
Karl Brown backed up his fifty against Yorkshire Vikings yesterday with 47 from 36 balls, while George Edwards (3-38) took another three wickets to lead the Lancashire fightback. Lumb (53 from 30 balls) and Wessels hit 12 fours and seven sixes between them and after a spirited recover, Lancashire had the rug pulled from underneath them when they were penalised six runs at the death.
Martin Guptill gave the Lancashire innings the perfect, as he made 28 from 18 balls, but the Outlaws claimed his valuable wicket in the fifth over when he mistimed a slower ball from Harry Gurney (2-37) into the hands of Greg Smith at 40/1. A reasonable powerplay score of 46/1 was boosted by Alviro Petersen hitting Samit Patel for six, but the South-African was out lbw to the next ball for 21.
Brown carried his form from yesterday evening, when he made his first Twenty20 fifty of the summer at home to Yorkshire, as he and Liam Livingstone (9) attempted to replicate their 98-run partnership. Patel (2-31) made a big breakthrough when he had Livingstone caught behind cheaply, following his entertaining maiden T20 fifty, which was the fastest half-century by a Lancashire player in the format.
Steven Mullaney gave Brown a life on 39 when he failed to hold on to a straightforward return catch, taking a skied effort to the face when the ball slipped through his hands. Brown looked to make good of his chance, as he went in search of back-to-back fifties, but he fell at the end of the 16th over for 47, after he and Buttler had added 44 runs off the fourth wicket.
Buttler spearheaded Lancashire's lively innings with five fours and three sixes on his way to a 27-ball fifty, adding a fifty-partnership with Croft in 22 balls. Buttler hit three sixes in the space of four balls at the end of the innings to take the Lightning to their best ever score against Notts, which Croft chipping in with a six of his own during his knock of 16 from nine balls.
By setting a sizeable target of 185, Lancashire would have consider themselves to be favourites at the break, but a disastrous powerplay tipped the balance in Nottinghamshire's favour. Edwards was hit for two sixes by Lumb in the third over and the former England batsman started the next over with a mammoth blow off Neil Wagner, sending the Kiwi paceman into the stands.
Wessels held up his share of the responsibility, following a swept boundary off Jordan Clark with a straight six, helping to bring up the fifty partnership in only 29 deliveries. The final over of the powerplay conceded 18 runs, as boundaries continued to come regularly for both of Nottinghamshire's openers and they showed no sign of wavering outside of the fielding restrictions.
Lumb made his 25th Twenty20 half-century in 26 balls, reaching this milestone with his fourth six, as his early rhythm continued into a masterclass of batting in the shortest format. The hundred-partnership came in only 51 deliveries, with Lumb falling the ball afterwards to Stephen Parry (1-35) when he was caught in the deep by Petersen at 100/1.
Both openers went to their half-centuries in 26 balls, with Wessels reaching his fifty with seven boundaries and two sixes, before he was comprehensively bowled by Clark (2-28) for 58 off 31 balls. Wickets continued to fall to Lancashire's benefit, with the Notts skipper Dan Christian (11) top-edging Wagner (1-39) down to Parry at third man, before Patel was out for a golden duck, picking out Livingstone on the leg-side boundary off Clark, who finished with 2-28 from his four overs.
Edwards returned with a purpose, bowling Greg Smith for 24 with a perfectly-executed slower ball, as pressure started to build in the closing stages of the innings. Brendan Taylor (5) fell cheaply to Lilley (1-28) after Mullaney (9) had eased the pressure with a six earlier in the over, while Edwards struck another blow in his next over, bowling Mullaney at 166/7.
Losing seven wickets for 66 runs, the Outlaws suffered another setback three balls later when Jake Ball was caught by Livingstone off Edwards. After reaching 100/0 after 8.3 overs, the hosts had lost eight wickets for 68 runs in exactly ten overs, a collapse that made Lancashire favourites for the first time in Nottinghamshire's run-chase.
However, late drama saw the Outlaws receive a lifeline, as Lancashire were punished for slow bowling and six crucial runs were taken from the required target. 15 from the final over became nine from six balls and when Wood hit Lilley into the stands, the task was nearly complete.
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