Notts Outlaws head to New Road on Wednesday 1 May (11am start) to face Worcestershire in a bid to ensure qualification to the knock-out stages of the Royal London One-Day Cup.
The Outlaws have won their first five fixtures and will be sure of a place in the next phase with a win over a side who will be hoping to join them there.
Worcestershire won the North Group last year, ahead of Notts – with both sides then losing to eventual runners-up Kent.
The New Road side lost to Sussex in the 1963 Gillette Cup Final, the first domestic one-day final in this country.
They have reached a total of 10 showpiece occasions at Lord’s, yet won only two of them: the 1991 Benson and Hedges Cup and the 1994 NatWest Trophy.
Sunday’s home defeat to Warwickshire leaves them in fourth place in this year’s table, on six points.
Head-To-Head
Notts and Worcestershire have met on 66 previous occasions in all forms of domestic one-day cricket, although a total of six matches were eventually lost to the weather.
The head-to-head record lies in favour of the New Road side, who have won 31 and lost 28 of the meetings. In 1983 the sides played out a tie at Hereford.
In Worcestershire’s 34 home meetings the contests have been evenly fought. If Notts win this they will level up the record at 15 wins apiece.
Last Time
Two years ago the sides met in the opening match of the 2017 Royal London One-Day Cup competition and the Outlaws’ campaign began in disappointing fashion as they went down by 5 wickets (under the Duckworth-Lewis method).
Notts powered their way to a total of 273 for six, thanks to the eighth List A century of Michael Lumb’s career.
Lumb made 104 and there were also solid contributions of 46 from Billy Root, on his county one-day debut, and 44 from Samit Patel, as the Outlaws responded to being inserted on a grey, overcast morning.
Rapids’ skipper Joe Leach picked up figures of three for 50 and there were two wickets for Moeen Ali but the start of their run chase was delayed by two hours due to persistent drizzle and the occasional heavy shower.
When the weather relented, a revised target of 168 from 22 overs was set.
The hosts crossed the finishing line with 12 balls remaining to claim the two points.
Ross Whiteley was the difference, bludgeoning 41 not out from only 19 balls to seal the victory.
Worcestershire won the North Group that year and went on to reach the semi finals, where they lost to Surrey, eventual runners-up in he final to Notts.
History
1971 | Garfield Sobers' only List A century came in a John Player League match at Newark, for Nottinghamshire against Worcestershire. The visitors made 202-9 but thanks to an unbeaten 116 from their inspirational captain, Notts completed a six-wicket victory.
1983 | The teams met at the Racecourse Ground in Hereford and fought out a thrilling tie. Basharat Hassan and captain Clive Rice both scored 71 as Notts made 195-4 in their John Player Special League match. Led by 86 from Phil Neale the home side came close to victory but the match was tied after a dramatic final ball which saw Paul Pridgeon run out, leaving the current Nottinghamshire Head Coach Peter Moores unbeaten on 10 at the other end.
1987 | The first List A hat-trick taken by a Nottinghamshire bowler was secured by Kevin Saxelby. Playing against Worcestershire at Trent Bridge in the Refuge Assurance League 40-over competition, the fast-medium bowler sent back Steve Rhodes, Phil Neale and Neal Radford in successive deliveries.
Stats (for all List A matches between Notts and Worcs)
Highest Team Total | Notts: 307-7 (Trent Bridge, 1992), Worcs: 285-5 (Trent Bridge, 1988).
Highest Individual Score | Notts: 150* AD Hales (Trent Bridge, 2009), Worcs: 120 TS Curtis (Trent Bridge, 1988).
Best Bowling | Notts: 5-33 G Frost (Newark, 1971), Worcs: 5-35 GA Hick (Trent Bridge, 1991).
Played For Them Both
This week’s meeting gives two players an early opportunity of playing against their former team-mates. Joe Clarke and Riki Wessels switched counties during the close-season.
Clarke has adapted quickly to life at Trent Bridge, marking both his county championship and one-day debuts with hundreds for Notts.
The 22-year old appeared in 55 first class, 28 one-day and 41 T20 matches for Worcestershire before making his move.
Wessels was a member of the Outlaws team that won the Royal London One-Day Cup at Lord’s in 2017 and will always have a place in the Notts’ record books, having scored their first century in T20 cricket, an innings of 110 v Derbyshire in 2017.
Nottinghamshire’s Luke Wood spent part of last summer on loan at New Road and was a member of their side that won the T20 Blast for the first time last September.
Others to have worn the colours of both counties include Andy Carter, Bobby Chapman, Alex Hales, AJ Harris, Phil Jaques, David Lucas, Nadeem Malik, Paul Pollard, Andre Russell, Richard Stemp and Chris Tolley.
Milestones
Notts’ captain Steven Mullaney has taken 99 one-day wickets.
Luke Fletcher has taken 445 wickets for Notts, across all three formats.
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