Ben Martindale’s career-best 44 wasn’t enough for the Notts Outlaws as they fell to a five-wicket defeat against East Midlands rivals Leicestershire Foxes at Grace Road in the T20 Vitality Blast.
The visitors posted 160/6 after Martindale’s effort was backed up by skipper Joe Clarke (39 from 23), and late impetus from Liam Patterson-White (28 from 16) and Lyndon James (22 from 11).
Olly Stone then took two wickets in two overs at the start of the Foxes reply, and with Fazalhaq Farooqi taking a scalp for himself, the home side were in trouble at 6/3.
However, all-rounder Lewis Goldsworthy’s assured knock of 67 helped guide the Foxes to victory with an over to spare.
Having opted to bat first, the Outlaws were 49/0 after the powerplay with Clarke and Martindale plundering seven boundaries from the last 20 balls of the fielding restrictions.
Clarke lifted a Rehan full toss over the short boundary on The Meet side of the ground for his second six, quickly adding two more fours, but the partnership was broken on 68 as he fell to a catch on the cover boundary.
Martindale was growing in confidence, reverse pulling a six off Goldsworthy, but Notts were checked again in the 11th when Jack Haynes was caught at deep midwicket.
Martindale briefly broke free from a Foxes squeeze as he slogged Currie over the midwicket rope but an attempted repeat was brilliantly caught by Louis Kimber, keeping the ball in the air as he crossed the boundary and stepping back to take it inside.
The Outlaws slipped to 115 for five in the 17th but Liam Patterson-White, who hit back-to-back sixes off Hull before being caught off Currie off the penultimate ball, joined Lyndon James in adding 45 from 20 balls to give the innings substance.
Indeed, 160 looked a decent total as the Foxes made a calamitous start, losing Sol Budinger, pulling to deep backward square, Peter Handscomb, miscuing to extra cover, and Rishi Patel, bowled off an inside edge, to be six for three from 14 balls.
At the halfway point, the Foxes required another 100 runs to win.
Rehan was caught at mid-off off James after the fourth-wicket pair had added 76 but Goldsworthy hit two sixes and six fours in a fine innings before holing out to deep midwicket off Patterson-White.
He added 54 with Neesham for the seventh wicket, with the hosts needing 25 more as he departed.
The New Zealand all-rounder went most of the way to finishing the job with three sixes and two fours, before Louis Kimber drove the winning boundary.
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