Matthew Montgomery feels the Outlaws have been buoyed by their resounding victory over an in-form Leicestershire Foxes, as their quest for Royal London Cup qualification goes down to the wire.
Notts must defeat Surrey at Welbeck CC to keep themselves in contention for a spot in the knockout stages, but Montgomery looked to their crushing East Midlands derby win as a source of great belief.
The all-rounder is part of an unchanged squad for the group-stage finale (Tuesday 23 August, 11am).
The Outlaws thrashed their neighbours by 105 runs in a 47-overs-per-side clash at the Uptonsteel County Ground as they made light work of defending their 255/9.
“Saturday’s win was massive for us,” reflected Montgomery. “Leicestershire had been in good form heading into that game, winning five out of six, so for us it was huge.
“With the way our bowlers performed, and our batters too, we definitely feel good in all departments after that. In particular, I definitely want to mention how nicely Has [Haseeb Hameed] has been batting.
“He’s a calm guy, he doesn’t say too much and instead just goes about his business, but it was great to spend some time in the middle with him.”
Captain Hameed made an unbeaten 99 in Leicester, falling agonisingly short of a second century in this season’s Royal London Cup.
As it was, he still made his second successive fifty, and he found support from Montgomery himself, who made 58 in a partnership of 121 for the fourth wicket.
“It was really nice to contribute personally on Saturday, especially after I’d had a bit of a tough run with the bat,” smiled Montgomery.
“Hopefully I can kick on now and carry that into the game against Surrey, and even into the rest of the tournament if we do make it through.”
Montgomery also singled out Saturday’s seven-wicket hero Brett Hutton and debutant Toby Pettman for particular praise.
Hutton’s return of 7-26 from 8.1 overs represented the best-ever figures by a Nottinghamshire bowler in List A cricket, as he reduced Leicestershire to 0/2 and then 12/4 inside his first 17 deliveries.
Pettman, meanwhile, shared the new ball with him and bowled eight overs, including one maiden, on his first appearance in the Outlaws first team.
“Brett’s performance on Saturday was unbelievable, and Toby Pettman looked really good on debut too,” enthused Montgomery.
“Those first few overs he bowled were fierce! That set the tone for the rest of the innings, and he’ll be ready to do it again against Surrey.”
The Brown Caps will be welcomed to Welbeck by the Outlaws in their second outground adventure of this season’s competition, following two matches at Grantham earlier in the group stage.
“It’s a very nice ground, and we had some success there last year. We’re confident of going there again and coming away with another win,” he stated.
“I think it’s quite a nice thing that it’s set up in this way, because it gives us the impetus and the motivation that we need to do our jobs.
“After our first few games where we had a couple of mixed performances, a must-win game gives us everything we need to go out there and be at our best.”
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The Royal London Cup Final
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