Notts Outlaws hammered by the Foxes
Coming into this Grace Road clash, the visitors knew nothing but two points would realistically be good enough if they wanted to reach the knock-out quarter-finals.
But the sense of urgency that scenario should have engendered seemed sadly lacking from lacklustre Notts, particularly in the field, as they were outclassed by a Leicestershire Foxes side who, like themselves, had lost three of their previous four.
There was no denying that Jim Allenby's innings of 110 was sensational, one of the best played in the competition this season.
He smashed a remarkable eight sixes and seven boundaries from only 58 balls and by the time he fell in the penultimate over, caught behind by Chris Read off Luke Fletcher, Leicestershire were cruising towards 200.
But as brilliant as he was, the Outlaws' bowling was sub-standard and their out-fielding even worse.
The tone of the Leicestershire innings, after they were inserted by Chris Read, was set from the very first sloppy Fletcher over, which contained a wide and cost 11. From then on there were plenty of overs that went for double figures and only Samit Patel (1-31 from four overs) exercised anything remotely like control over the batsmen.
In the field, it was easy to lose count of the number of times the visitors fumbled, making ones into twos and adding to what was the Foxes' second highest total – 205-2 – in this form of cricket.
Even the normally dependable Read uncharacteristically dropped Matthew Boyce standing up to Patel.
By the time Boyce was out in the ninth over, skying a legside catch to Ali Brown from the bowling of Patel, the Foxes opening pair had already raced to 79.
But the breakthrough brought little let up in the Leicestershire momentum.
At this point, Allenby was really getting into his stride, clearing the boundary with a regularity that made it look as if it had been set just off the square. Most of his maximums came in the arc between mid-wicket and long on – and most cleared the rope by a long way.
In contrast, second wicket partner James Taylor (41 not out from 33 balls) hit just three fours, but scampered between the wickets for all he was worth.
Together, the pair put on 106 for the second wicket in just over 10 overs and Allenby received a worthy ovation as he brought up his hundred with a cut to the fence off Fletcher.
The youngster eventually got his man but just to rub salt into the wound following, Jacques Du Toit then hammered 16 from five balls in the closing stages.
When it came to their turn to bat, chasing such a huge target, Notts had no choice but to have a go. Almost inevitably, that meant they quickly began to lose wickets with left-armer Harry Gurney (3-21) the chief beneficiary.
He took the first three Outlaws wickets to fall as Will Jefferson (7) skied to mid-on, Alex Hales (5) nicked behind and Samit Patel (9) got a leading edge as he attempted to work the ball to leg.
That left Notts 35-3 and while Bilal Shafayat (29) and Adam Voges (21) did hit a smattering of boundaries, they were both soon back in the pavilion.
Not content with his ton, Allenby then dismissed both players and followed it up with the wicket of Ali Brown (11). It really was his day.
By the time skipper Read arrived at the crease, the cause was already hopelessly lost. Even so, he gave it his best shot before he holed out from 20 from 16 balls on the long on boundary.
As the Outlaws were bowled out for 135 with nine balls to go, the margin of the Foxes' victory was a sizeable 70 runs,
In all, it was a night everyone associated with the Outlaws will want to instantly forget. Notts travel to Yorkshire Carnegie tonight, but they must already be looking forward to getting back into County Championship action against Warwickshire this weekend.
At least that is a form of the game where, as Division One leaders, their confidence should still be sky high.
Chris Read
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