Birmingham Bears Triumph Over Nottinghamshire in Vitality T20 Blast
The Birmingham Bears continued their strong start in the Vitality Blast, securing a second consecutive victory by defeating the Nottinghamshire Outlaws by 22 runs at Edgbaston, thrilling a crowd of 13,784.
The visitors lose all ten for 73 runs as Briggs, Lintott, and Mousley share seven wickets each.
Nottinghamshire 127 (Mousley 3-22, Hasan 2-22) was defeated by Birmingham Bears 149 (Yates 68, Stone 3-30) by a margin of 22 runs.
Bears, who had thrashed Durham in their first game the night before, elected to bat first but were dismissed for 149 in 19.3 overs. Rob Yates made a magnificent 68 off 48 balls, but no one else could score more than 16, with Olly Stone taking 3 for 30 and Luke Fletcher bagging an outstanding 4-0-20-2.
The Bears attack, spearheaded by Dan Mousley, Hasan Ali, Danny Briggs, and Jake Lintott, was extremely experienced, and the Outlaws could only muster 127 all out after surging to 54 without loss in 35 balls.
The Outlaws had additional cuts to tend to before their home game against the Worcestershire Rapids on Thursday. The Outlaws were soundly defeated by the Northants Steelbacks in their first game. Yates was the one who made the game-winning throw. He lost partners frequently, yet he batted with abandon and hoisted his first ball for six.
Tom Moores and Calvin Harrison made several excellent catches as Alex Davies and Chris Benjamin thrashed around for a short while, each clearing the ropes with one hit and then finding a fielder with another. With a Blast average of 97.28 going into the Outlaws game, Sam Hain was only able to muster 16 runs before chipping a return catch to Matt Montgomery. Lyndon James was driven down to cover by Mousley.
Stone was skied by Jake Bethell to mid-off. George Garton scored a reverse-lapped six to start his Bears career, but he only added another single before hitting a big drive past Stone.
Yates stood out among all the crazy bits and pieces with a controlled 37-ball fifty that reached 68 until he was skilfully caught off Fletcher at fine leg by a diving Jack Haynes. The final three wickets, which included an unsuccessful reverse-sweep for a leg before wicket, summed up a shaky batting effort.
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Joe Clarke and Alex Hales capitalized on the powerplay by adding 50 runs in the first five overs, thanks to the Outlaws bowlers who had earned the privilege of allowing their batsmen to go through it without taking any risks. Although Notts had complete control, the match’s momentum was turned around when Clarke left for 28 off 18, lifting Mousley to extra cover. After Haynes hit a return catch to Briggs, Will Young was bowled for missing a cut at the spinner, and Hales lifted Lintott to long off, four wickets fell in 21 deliveries.
Then came a moment of pure fielding genius when Bethell removed Moores with an amazing diving catch at the extra cover boundary. Outlaws were 95 for 5 and under severe strain, much to the glee of the man in the crowd wearing a carrot costume, after leading 54 without loss and comfortably.
With 33 off 31, Montgomery put up some resistance, but the collapse turned terminal when he edged a reverse sweep at Hasan Ali. In the final two overs, the Outlaws tail was required to find 26 and they failed to do so. Yates had the final say, unsurprisingly, as he made a wonderful catch at extra cover to raise the fans, including the man wearing a carrot, to their feet.
