Alex Hales Scores Unbeaten 65 | Durham v Notts Outlaws - Highlights | Vitality Blast 2023
At Seat Unique Riverside, Nottinghamshire Outlaws defeated Durham by five wickets to return to winning ways in the Vitality Blast thanks to Alex Hales' unbeaten 65.
The England opener, who had previously played against Lancashire Lightning and recorded a duck, was in commanding form for the Outlaws. Hales played the anchor position, allowing colleagues Tom Moores and Shaheen Afridi to push Notts over the line with four balls to spare by being aggressive at the start of his knock to put his team ahead of the rate.
Ollie Robinson led the hosts' 168-run innings earlier in the day with his second T20 fifty in two days. However, Durham was forced to regret a costly conclusion to their innings after scoring just nine runs from their final two overs, which was a major factor in their first loss in this season's championship.
Graham Clark of Durham, who had lost the toss, tried to add to his century from their first game. He found his range in the third over, thrashing Afridi for a six and a boundary into the legside off successive deliveries before merely lifting an off-drive over the head of Matthew Carter at mid-off to give the home team momentum.
As the opener, Conor McKerr stopped Clark's attack for 29.selected Mullaney. After managing to edge Tom Moores' initial ball past him, Michael Jones preserved Durham's promising start. The Scotland international hit five boundaries in a rapid-fire 26 from 12 balls, but Mullaney bowled Jones with a gem before forcing Alex Lees to be caught for 13.
Durham needed to act to stop the tide. Turner and Robinson made a crucial fourth-wicket stand under pressure that was worth 57 runs. The cleverness of Robinson and the force of Turner laid the groundwork for the Durham innings, and the two players worked effectively together.
Turner tried to increase the run rate, but Hales made a brilliant low catch at long-off, giving Mullaney his third wicket. Following his career-best performance against Yorkshire, Robinson persisted and persisted in resisting the Nottinghamshire attack, blasting Afridi for two boundaries to reach his second Blast fifty in a row.
In order to limit Durham to a score of 168 from their 20 overs, Afridi took retribution by bowling Robinson before he and McKerr trapped the home team in the final two overs, which only cost nine runs.
The Outlaws' response got off to a fast start thanks to three boundaries and a six from Joe Clarke. However, Liam Trevaskis showed quick thinking to block a strong drive and dismiss the opener caught and bowled. For the visitors, Hales responded by hammering 25 off of one ball from Bas de Leede, including two enormous sixes into the leg-side.
Ben Raine and Nathan Sowter made inroads into the Nottinghamshire lineup, but Lyndon James provided a helpful cameo to ease Hales' burden of keeping the visitors ahead of the necessary pace until he was caught for 20 by Turner.
Hales changed his strategy from being an aggressor to a game manager at the loss of wickets, scoring 50 runs off 33 balls for the 72nd time in T20 cricket. Moores was able to find his range against Trevaskis during his innings, hitting 16 runs off the 14th over to move Notts one step closer to their goal of a victory.Moores became Raine's second victim of the match, falling for 32, but there was to be no drama in the end as Afridi hammered two sixes off de Leede and then Trevaskis in the final over to seal the victory for the visitors.
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