Notts Outlaws won the Barbados T20 Cup in the most dramatic of circumstances late on Sunday evening. Defending a score of 131-4, they turned around a near hopeless position to bowl Northants Steelbacks out for 129, snatching victory in the final over to win by just two runs.
The Outlaws had skipper Greg Smith to thank for posting any sort of total. His unbeaten 67, following a score of 78 not out in the semi final win over Hampshire, made him a worthy player of the tournament.
His bowling unit, depleted by injuries, stuck manfully to their task though and the match was won when Harry Gurney yorked Oliver Stone with the penultimate ball of the match to dismiss Northants for 129.
It all left Smith feeling content after he succeeded Chris Read, James Taylor and Riki Wessels in leading the Outlaws to success in this competition.
“It’s been a superb day,” he said.
“It’s a great feeling and it’s always better to win the games you probably shouldn’t have.
“There were so many good and valuable contributions from all members of the team over the course of the day and so it was great effort to be involved in.”
Despite admitting he found it difficult to find any fluency, Smith felt he did what he had to do with the bat.
“Again, I wasn’t at my most fluent but it turned out to be a winning score in the end, so in hindsight I did what I needed to do to get the team to what was a winning total,” he added.
“I managed to stay calm even though I was frustrated through the middle but I’m very happy with my day’s work.
“I thought we were maybe 8-10 runs short, if I’m honest, so I knew we’d have to field well and the boys with the ball led from the front. Harry (Gurney) stood up for us, as did Brett Hutton and the fielding of Anuj Dal again was fantastic.
“We’re very happy to have won this again.”
Under the Kensington Oval floodlights the match began at 6pm local time, with Ben Sanderson bowling to Michael Lumb. A single then allowed Smith to plunder an early boundary through midwicket.
Lumb tucked gleefully into the second over, bowled by Olli Stone. He hit a couple of boundaries, one off a free hit, and then followed it up by pulling the first six of the final.
Looking to make amends for a cheap dismissal in the semi final, the left-hander seemed in imperious form until top-edging Stone behind to depart for 20.
Riki Wessels joined his captain and added 14 in a brief stay, before miscuing Azharullah to long on for 14.
Notts’ woes intensified moments later. After running a sharp single Sam Wood went down clutching his hamstring and needed lengthy treatment before resuming. He swept one delivery away but then immediately signalled that he couldn’t continue and retired hurt, in obvious discomfort.
Steven Mullaney was immediately into his work and hit the young off-spinner Tom Sole over extra cover and into the plastic seats to ignite the middle of the innings.
Smith, meanwhile, had carried on from where he left off in the morning but was spilt low down at long off as he tried to accelerate in the closing overs. His partner, Mullaney, wasn’t so lucky, departing for 21 as he tried to get after Azharullah.
Anuj Dal failed to get off the mark as Rossington clung on to a catch in the deep but then Smith hit back to back sixes to reach his second 50 of the day; this one coming from 53 balls, with three fours and those two maximums. He controlled the strike in the final over and remained undefeated once again.
With Josh Cobb missing, after injuring a hamstring in the warm-up, Saif Zaib opened up with Adam Rossington but they weren’t together for long; Luke Wood yorking the dangerous Rossington with just the fifth ball of the innings.
Zaib was clearly under instructions to throw the bat at everything and he enjoyed early success with the fielding restrictions in force but on 25 he sliced Harry Gurney to Matt Carter at cover.
Luke Wood swooped low at mid off to see off Alex Wakely cheaply, as Mullaney again proved difficult to get away. His bowling partnership with Carter had served the Outlaws well earlier in the day and a worn-out strip was just what they both would have wanted to prey upon.
Both Ben Duckett and Steven Crook were determined to play their shots though; with each batsman clearing the ropes in a brutal partnership of 48.
With Sam Wood unable to take the field and Luke Fletcher leaving the action after bowling just two overs, Smith’s resources were starting to look a little threadbare but Gurney rekindled hopes by removing Duckett for 34, with another 34 still needed to win; sub Jake Libby holding his ground well to take a flyer that went high into the night sky.
At this stage the match was in Northants’ control and the Outlaws appeared on the brink of relinquishing their title. This was the eleventh match since they last lost a T20 game in Barbados and the spirit and will-to-win that produced that winning sequence came to the fore again.
Admittedly, some haphazard decision from the batting side helped on occasions. David Murphy was caught behind, one of three dismissals for Wessels.
The hard-hitting Steven Crook fell to a stunning catch in the deep by Anuj Dal; sufficiently impressive to have all of his team-mates running out to celebrate with him.
Two wickets fell to Carter in the 18th over, Sole edging behind and Graeme White, after larruping two fours, was stumped after being beaten by the turn.
Northants still wouldn’t roll over. 12 needed off two overs became six off one. Mullaney’s return found Sanderson short of his ground, leaving the last pair needing 3 from 2 balls but Gurney ensured the win and that magical fourth consecutive competition win on the island.
With all eleven players, plus subs Libby and Ben Kitt, playing their part it was a stunning turnaround and all should take great credit in their success.
The Outlaws bowling figures: Gurney 3.5-0-14-3, Mullaney 4-0-20-2; Carter 3-0-26-2, Hutton 4-0-28-1, L Wood 3-0-29-1, Fletcher 2-0-11-0
Attention will now turn to red ball cricket with Notts facing Hampshire in a 2-day match at Windward CC, starting on Tuesday.
The 2015 season saw dramatic last-gasp four day victories, thrilling limited-overs contests and an historic Investec Ashes Test, all in the unique surroundings of Trent Bridge.
Next season, we’d wager, will be no less enthralling and frankly we’d hate for you to miss out.