RESULT
North Group (D/N), Birmingham, June 03, 2023, Vitality Blast
(20 ov, T:215) 203/9

Notts won by 11 runs

Report

Joe Clarke, Colin Munro set tempo as Bears bested despite Sam Hain 97*

Nottinghamshire claim much-needed win at home of table-topping Bears

ECB Reporters Network
03-Jun-2023
Joe Clarke made an unbeaten 89 from 53 balls  •  PA Images via Getty Images

Joe Clarke made an unbeaten 89 from 53 balls  •  PA Images via Getty Images

Nottinghamshire 214 for 3 (Clarke 89*, Munro 87) beat Birmingham 203 for 9 (Hain 97*, Afridi 3-39) by 11 runs
Notts Outlaws heaved their staccato Vitality Blast campaign back into forward motion with a spectacular 11-run win over Birmingham Bears at run-soaked Edgbaston.
Notts were put in by the top-of-the-table Bears but piled up an imposing 214 for 3. When two batters in the same innings reach half-centuries with their fifth six, things have not gone well for the opposition - so it was with Joe Clarke, 89 not out off 53 balls, and Colin Munro (87 off 43) as they pummelled the bowlers in a partnership of 122 from 68 balls.
The remarkable Sam Hain then took his Blast run-tally this season to 303 with a superb unbeaten 97 off 52, but the Bears fell just short on 203 for 9.
Notts will hope their third win in six games will be the start of a consistent run towards the quarter-finals. The Bears meanwhile, have faltered after a flying start. It has not been the homecoming Birmingham had in mind for Moeen Ali. They won four out of four before his return, since when they have lost two out of two - evidence, perhaps, for the case of 'never change a winning team'.
After choosing to bowl, the Bears soon removed Alex Hales, bowled by Henry Brookes with the ninth ball, but the brisk breakthrough simply opened the door to the onslaught. After a watchful start (Dan Mousley's first two overs cost just five runs), Munro launched an offensive which silenced the big home crowd.
He bashed Glenn Maxwell straight out of the attack with two sixes and two more sailed into the stands from what proved to be Danny Briggs' only over. Maxwell, Briggs and Ed Barnard together bowled three overs for 49.
It was thrilling hitting from Munro who was within sight of his sixth T20 century when he lifted Moeen to long-off in pursuit of his tenth six. That was the signal for Clarke, hitherto content to be the quiet partner, to attack. The former Rapids batter smote a Brookes full toss into the crowd to raise the Outlaws' 200 and the innings closed on 214 with 13 fours and 16 sixes.
Under intense scoreboard pressure, the Bears had to go hard from the off and they lost captain and vice-captain in the fourth over. Moeen and Alex Davies flailed off-side catches off Shaheen Afridi and then Maxwell skied a top-edged slog at Jake Ball.
From a parlous 40 for 3, Hain and Mousley added 52 in six overs before the latter fell to a brilliant catch by Matt Montgomery, racing in and diving forward from deep point. That was from Calvin Harrison's third ball. When the spinner's 12th delivery bowled Chris Benjamin, the Bears' hopes lay squarely with Hain. He batted magnificently but that scoreboard pressure - 59 needed from the last four overs - was too great.

Language
English
Win Probability
NOTTS 
NOTTSBEARS
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Bears Innings
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Vitality Blast
North Group
TEAMMWLPTNRR
BEARS14113220.819
LANCS1485170.427
WORCS1485170.349
NOTTS148616-0.222
DERBS1467130.397
NHNTS1468120.274
DURH1447110.077
YORKS146610-0.737
LEICS142124-1.402
South Group
TEAMMWLPTNRR
SOM14122241.460
HANTS1495180.820
SURR1486161.192
ESSEX1486160.088
KENT1477140.287
SUSS146812-0.871
GLOUC145910-0.993
GLAM145910-1.060
MIDDX143116-0.932