Lyndon James starred as Notts Outlaws continued their unbeaten start to the Metro Bank One Day Cup campaign with victory over Leicestershire Foxes.
James’ List A record innings score of 82 helped the Outlaws chase a revised target of 206 from 44 overs, after Tom Loten and Brett Hutton took three wickets each in Leicestershire’s innings.
Rishi Patel and Sol Budinger made a steady start for the hosts in the opening five overs, but the Outlaws then had their breakthrough when Patel guided Hutton into the grateful palms of Matthew Montgomery to open Hutton’s account for the day. Budinger then feathered Hutton in behind to Schadendorf only two overs later, as Notts began to gain momentum.
Dane Paterson then made way for Tom Loren who, in spectacular style, uprooted the off-stump of Lewis Hill with just his first delivery of the day from the pavilion end, leaving Leicestershire 41/3 before the end of powerplay.
Well in his stride and hungry for more, Hutton didn’t take long to claim his third victim when he found the pad of Colin Ackermann in the 13th over, already matching his wicket-taking performance from the opening One Day Cup win at Essex.
Despite a more resilient spell of overs, the fifth-wicket partnership was broken after just 22 runs - and in bizarre fashion - as Wiaan Mulder very unluckily ran out his own team mate in Peter Handscomb, who was caught beyond his crease when Mulder’s straight drive clipped the opposing stumps off Paterson’s bowling.
Between two breaks of play enforced by rain, Tom Loten grabbed his second wicket of the day after finding the pad of Louis Kimber just eight balls in from the restart.
But the Foxes stubbornly refused to cave in, and Mulder led a valiant charge to wrestle for control of the contest after Notts’ successful morning, forming significant partnerships with Scriven (62) and Walker (43) along the way to a commendable unbeaten 84-run innings from just 92 balls.
Loten, Paterson and Calvin Harrison shared the final three scalps as the tenth wicket partnership between Mulder and Josh Hull survived the remaining deliveries, Leicestershire posting 214/9 from their reduced 44-over innings in a strong recovery.
With a revised target of 206, Notts openers Ben Slater and Ben Martindale looked to begin their chase on the right foot, but the former was bowled by Chris Wright on just the ninth delivery of the innings.
In stepped Lyndon James at three, who - despite the loss of Ben Martindale in the 14th over - rebuilt the visitors’ chase with a well-measured tally of boundaries after the wobbly start.
Skipper Haseeb Hameed, bowled by Josh Hull like Martindale, was unable to get a foothold but James continued his crusade before finally being dismissed for 82 with a fine edge into Handscomb.
Dane Schadendorf and Liam Patterson-White attempted to pick up where James had left off, and did well to record maximums back-to-back between them to grab control of the tie in its latter stages, before Patterson-White became Hull’s fourth victim of the afternoon.
Despite a slightly nervy finish, Schadendorf paired up well with Calvin Harrison - knocking several fine boundaries - to see through the final stage of the chase and earn Notts their second win from an unbeaten three-game start.