After striking 439 runs in 13 games in 2015, Riki Wessels has carried his serene form in the NatWest T20 Blast through to 2016, sitting top of the Outlaws’ run scoring pile heading into the knockout stages.
The powerful right-hander, who has recently been awarded British Citizenship, has pummelled 360 runs in the Outlaws' ten completed matches in 2016.
Joining forces with Michael Lumb at the top of the order in white ball cricket in the absence of Alex Hales, Wessels has found the boundary 35 times, and cleared it on a further 15 occasions, seconds only in the six-hitting chart to Dan Christian.
Wessels has also struck his runs at a ferocious strike rate of 143.42, including smashing three fifties with both of these stats typified in his unbeaten 80 against the Worcestershire Rapids.
In front of the Sky Sports cameras at Trent Bridge, Wessels made the Rapids’ total of 124-8 look well below par, as the Outlaws romped to an emphatic nine-wicket victory.
The 30-year-old struck six fours and seven maximums in his 35-ball knock, bringing up his half century off just 17 balls, the second fastest in the competition this year, after Christian’s 16-ball effort against the Leicestershire Foxes.
Notts Outlaws will face the Essex Eagles in the quarter-final of the NatWest T20 Blast, with a 6.30pm start on Monday 8 August at Trent Bridge, and tickets are on sale now.