Kunal Manek, the highly regarded Outlaws’ analyst, laboured the often-negative consequences of batting first and losing three men in the powerplay in preparation for this season’s assault on the north group.
The adage was disproved here though as Notts endured the loss of Alex Hales (4), Chris Nash (13) and Joe Clarke (22) with the fielding restrictions in place and still went on to defend a low total.
Durham, needing 151 to win, were all out for 132 as the Outlaws’ bowling attack prevailed.
The visitors lost Graham Clark on the third ball of their innings, chopping Matt Crater to sub-fielder Peter Trego at backward point, and imploded in Imad Wasim’s incisive first over.
First, Ben Raine was caught by Alex Hales attempting to drive the Pakistani all-rounder into the Pavilion. Then, he saw Alex Lees expertly stumped by Tom Moores having reached for the sweep two balls later.
There was still time for the calamitous run-out of Dave Bedingham from Imad’s sixth ball which would have infuriated Durham’s remote following. The former Plumtree batsman was well adrift having set-off from the non-striker’s end to allow Imad to remove the bails at a canter.
Durham looked increasingly dejected as their hopes of victory and qualification faded. Led by Jake Ball’s return of two for seven, Notts tightened their grip as time elapsed despite their own slow start. While Imad Wasim’s all-round impact was telling, Samit Patel and Steven Mullaney bowled characteristically tight lines to turn a closely-fought contest into a comfortable victory.
After the early batting stutters, Notts were largely propelled by a 49-run partnership between Ben Duckett and Tom Moores, and were disrupted when the nicely set pair were removed in rapid succession.
Moores was caught behind ramping former Notts all-rounder Paul Coughlin at the end of the twelfth over, while Duckett attempted to dispatch a slow full toss from Liam Trevaskis but only found the hands of Ben Raine on the deep mid-wicket boundary at the top of the thirteenth.
Viewed through hindsight, the second use of a hybrid pitch on which Derbyshire had set a victory target of 143 on Thursday may explain the uncharacteristically low scores in the most recent Blast encounters at Trent Bridge.
As Notts attempted to recover from 92-5, Dan Christian’s 13 at less than a run a ball, and Imad Wasim’s 26 off 24 would suggest that the Outlaws felt a par score was lower than popularly opined as they resisted any temptation to force the rate.
Notts enter the quarter-finals as number one seeds and will now face Leicestershire Foxes at Trent Bridge on Thursday 1 October.
Leicestershire are the only team to have beaten Notts in the competition this season and now stand between the Outlaws and a place in the final four.