Steven Mullaney is keen for Notts Outlaws to finish their group stage campaign with their sixth T20 win in a row against Leicestershire tomorrow (Friday 18 August, 7pm).
With Notts vying to claim a home quarter-final after becoming the first side to reach the knockout stages and Leicestershire still looking to qualify, there’s still all to play for at Trent Bridge, and Mullaney believes that the home crowd could hold the advantage.
“Yeah, it’s massive to finish on a high,” he said.
“We want to guarantee ourselves a top of the league, home quarter-final and if Leicestershire’s result tonight (Thursday) goes as they want, then they’ve got a chance of qualifying so it makes for a great game and hopefully we can get another big crowd watching us.
“The crowd is absolutely huge and we really appreciate it. I always say they’re like our twelfth man so hopefully we can get a win tomorrow (Friday) and then get Trent Bridge packed and rocking next week.”
The Outlaws extended their unbeaten run and booked their place in the quarter-finals with an 11-run win at Worcester on Sunday after defending a total of 145.
Mullaney was full of praise for the bowlers and Billy Root, who top-scored with a knock of 37 in just his second T20 innings for the first team this summer.
“We knew we had to take wickets up front - I think they were 40-4 at one point,” he said.
“Billy Root played a massive innings helping to get us to 145 because if he had got out early we’d have only been defending 120 and we probably would have struggled.
“The chat before was just to be positive - as it has been all season, and there was only us that could win it so we went out and gave it our best shot and luckily came out on top.
The nature of the win at Worcester was particularly pleasing for Mullaney and the rest of the squad, as it was the first time the side has had to defend a modest total, something the all-rounder thinks is reflective of the Outlaws in the T20 tournament so far.
“I think Mooresy [Head Coach Peter Moores] and DC [Dan Christian] had interviews and said that now we’ve won in every mode that we could do - so it’s great.
“The bowlers have obviously found it more difficult at Trent Bridge this year but the batters have won us games, and then going away at Worcester and defending 145 was magnificent - Harry [Gurney], Jake [Ball] and DC were great at the start and at the end.
“I think we’ve been a lot smarter this year. For example, when we went to Durham, we saw that the boundaries were bigger and our bowlers managed to keep them to 123.
“We’ve just adapted better this year to every condition. We know here [at Trent Bridge] the ball can fly around so it’s about winning those pressure moments and staying calm under pressure.”
He added: “As Picky [Bowling Coach, Andy Pick] has said quite a few times, we’ve started to not accept that 200 is par, so if we can get any team out for 180 or below we’re very confident.”
Mullaney and the squad are aware of the threat posed by their visitors on Friday, acknowledging the Foxes campaign so far.
“They’re a side in form – Ronchi’s in form, Cosgrove, Ackerman’s had a good tournament and the bowlers like Dieter Klein and McKay have had great tournaments as well.
“They play Derbyshire tonight (Thursday) at Leicester and if they win that they’ve got a good chance of qualifying so we’re going to have to be up for it, but it’s another game for us that we’re going to go out and try and get two points in, to secure that home quarter final.”
Notts Outlaws Squad to face Leicestershire Foxes on Friday 18 August at 7pm (from): Brendan Taylor, Jake Libby, Steven Mullaney, Riki Wessels, Alex Hales, Harry Gurney, Luke Wood, Samit Patel, Tom Moores, Brett Hutton, Jake Ball, Dan Christian, Ish Sodhi, and Billy Root.