An early start did little to affect the dominant form of the Outlaws who beat Warwickshire Bears by 33 runs to extend their lead at the top of the northern section of the Friends Provident t20..
Having won the toss Outlaw’s skipper David Hussey decided to make first use of the wicket and bat on another beautiful day in front of more than 5000 fans at Trent Bridge.
Hussey was the cornerstone of the Outlaws innings scoring 56 from 38 balls to set up an Outlaws victory.
Samit Patel claimed man of the match honours with 38 from 37 deliveries in the middle order putting on 68 for the 4th wicket.
The Outlaws had looked under pressure at 34-3 but Hussey and Patel laid the platform for Chris Read, Steven Mullaney and Paul Franks to throw the bat at the end of the innings to set the Bears 150 to win.
Neil Carter was the pick of the Bears bowlers taking 3-28 from his four overs and accounting for Ali Brown and Matt Wood in a tight opening spell.
The Bears innings began in similar fashion as Darren Pattinson dismissed the dangerous Carter for a golden duck and struck again in his second over to remove Darren Maddy.
When David Hussey bowled England Test star Jonathon Trott the Bears were languishing at 23-3 from the first 5 overs.
Mullaney and Patel then combined in what is becoming a very consistent middle innings bowling partnership.
All rounder Mullaney had wicket keeper Tim Ambrose caught by Pattinson at cover point and captain Jim Troughton stumped by Read to finish with figures of 2-19 from his four overs.
Requiring 70 from the final 5 overs the pressure was too much for the Bears and wickets tumbled to leave them 117 all out in the final over.
Samit Patel returned figures of 0-21 to add to his vital partnership with Hussey and all eyes now are on securing a home quarter final tie.
“We are playing some fantastic cricket at the moment, especially at Trent Bridge in front of our home crowd,” said Samit.
“We are top of the league and our focus now is on making sure we have a home tie in the quarter final. We know how to win here and win well and want to give our fans a home tie in the quarter finals.”
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