Worcestershire 436 v Nottinghamshire 276 & 236/0 (County Championship Group One)
*match drawn
22.04.21 – 25.04.21
Not the first red ball win in three years that Nottinghamshire had hoped for but a moral victory of sorts at New Road after a brilliant second innings batting display by opening batsmen Haseeb Hameed and Ben Slater which saved the match for Notts after a first innings collapse which enforced the follow on.
Winning the toss on Thursday morning, Worcestershire decided to bat and it was a former Nottinghamshire opener in Jake Libby who was their star as the hosts soon rallied up past 100 without loss. Daryl Mitchell made 59 for a first wicket stand of 140 before a handful of quick wickets suddenly left the home team 169/4, allowing another former Notts legend Rikki Wessels to join Libby at the crease.
By the end of play Worcestershire were 305/7 going into Friday, Libby eventually out for 117 caught Moores bowled Fletcher and that lead stretched on day two after a fantastic tail end performance that took the game away from Notts.
Barnard hit 58 coming in at eight whilst Joseph at nine hit 61 with Jack Leach at ten eventually going for 84. Worcestershire finishing their first innings 436 all out before having a bowl themselves at Notts.
The visitors started more than ok. 99 without loss by stumps Friday as Slater and Hameed enjoyed themselves but Saturday morning was a different matter. Slater going for 45 with Notts 115/1 before four more quick losses followed, Notts suddenly 172/5.
A rally by Hameed who eventually picked up his first Notts century (reaching 111) and Tom Moores who hit a quick 62, took Notts towards something respectable, but after Moores was given out off the bowling of D’Oliveira with the side 261/6, Notts then endured four further losses for just fifteen runs as the tail end was skittled and it soon looked like Peter Moores side would be doing very well to take anything from the game at all. 160 behind they went into bat on Saturday afternoon and made 87 without loss before the Sunday sessions final day came.
Credit to Notts, opening pair Slater and Hameed were brilliant, emphatically consistent and solid as a pairing, both reaching 114, Slater from 323 balls whilst Hameed from 331, carrying the bat across all three sessions of the day and the previous night in a rescue mission that gives four day cricket and county championship batsmen kudos that still, in this modern day of big hitting quick fire fast attacking stroke play, that good old fashioned batting still lives on, and in doing so, by playing a methodical mission of ‘not giving ones wicket’ it rescued Notts to take something from the game with the side eventually scoring 12 points from the contest, just three short of Worcestershire’s 15.
*Main image @TrentBridge Ben Slater & Haseeb Hameed were brilliant in racking up the runs.
