Outlaws Edge Out The Bears

Despite a fine performance in the field by the Bears to restrict their hosts to 149-6, a stuttering response with the bat on a sweltering day in the West Midlands eventually handed victory to the marauding Notts Outlaws.

The Outlaws will have their Australian captain to thank for their continuing march to the summit of the North group and a likely quarter-final spot. David Hussey is a man in form, and his 56 from 38 balls was the standout innings from a match in which both sides' strokemakers struggled on a sluggish pitch. After a two-wicket opening burst from Neil Carter had given the Bears the early impetus, the Outlaws were tottering on 34-3 when Hussey took guard, but another typically powerful innings from the t20 specialist set Warwickshire a challenging, if not unattainable target.

Unfortunately for the visitors, Carter's excellence with the ball - three more wickets took his season tally to 11 - could not be matched with the bat, and his first-ball dismissal set the tone for an innings in which none of Warwickshire's key matchwinners really got going. That man Hussey was again the chief tormentor. He only bowled six balls, producing a wicket maiden, removing Jonathan Trott just as the English star was about to get going. At 23-2 the Bears were chasing the game, and against the form team in the country right now, it was always liable to stretch their middle-order. Despite cameos from Jim Troughton and Rikki Clarke, and some encouraging blows by Ian Westwood batting at number ten, the Bears were eventually sunk for a disappointing 117.

A 32-run defeat was clearly not what the Bears had hoped for, but they are still very much in the mix for a quarter-final berth. They currently lie third in the North group, equal on points with Lancashire Lightning who have a game in hand, and a point ahead of Yorkshire Carnegie. In a hugely entertaining and tightly-bunched league, every game counts from now on.

Notts Outlaws 149-6 (Hussey 58, Carter 3-28) BEAT Warwickshire Bears 117 (Troughton 23; White 3-22) by 32 runs.