Nottinghamshire skipper Steven Mullaney couldn’t hide his delight at seeing his side pull off an innings victory over Worcestershire at Blackfinch New Road.

The 31-year old did reveal, though, that he hadn’t lost the belief that his side could win the match, even though the first two days were lost to the weather.

“I spoke on that first morning, and wanted everybody to know that we were going into the game trying to win it, rather than playing for bonus points,” he said.

“We knew that Worcestershire had been put under pressure in their first two games and we thought that if we could do that in bowler-friendly conditions, with no toss, that we could put them under pressure ourselves.”

Mullaney paid credit to his team, for maintaining their focus from the very start.

He added: “To win the game, in less than five sessions, is remarkable really and that’s testament to all the hard word and the belief that has gone into it.

“There’s not many games of cricket where you win every session, but I thought that from ball three on the third day, when Bally bowled Mitchell, we were ruthless.

“The bowlers have done everything asked of them, they’ve bowled long spells, short spells, whatever was asked of them.”

“The bowlers have done everything asked of them, they’ve bowled long spells, short spells, whatever was asked of them. Fletch the grabbed headlines on day one and I thought that when we batted, especially the partnerships down the back end, we were fantastic, especially this morning.”

Even with a first innings advantage of 190, Notts needed to make early inroads into the Worcestershire top order and did so with three wickets in the 10 overs before lunch.

“The way we went about it pleased me,” said Mullaney. “We got a wicket in the first over again and we’ve caught well, games like this and the one at Lancashire make it all worthwhile.

“It was great to see Fletch get a five-fer after all the work he’s put in, just as it was for Jake to get another today, but I hope he doesn’t get too many more or we’ll lose him to England!”

Top of the table after three matches represents a terrific start, but the captain doesn’t think expectations have been exceeded.

Mullanery said: “In pre-season I think we spoke about realising that when we get an opportunity to win a four-day game, because it doesn’t happen that often, we have to be ruthless. We are enjoying it and with the Lancashire win and a two-day win here we are making some lovely memories.”

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