Notts Outlaws Match Preview - 16/7/21

The Running Foxes continue their 2021 Vitality Blast campaign following a brief interruption to complete the group stage of the LV= County Championship, as Notts Outlaws travel to the Uptonsteel County Ground.

County will look to finish the Blast campaign in positive fashion despite not being able to qualify for the knockout phase of the competition.

The Foxes head into the clash on the back of a final session defeat against Middlesex CCC on Wednesday, July 14, which ended any hopes of playing Division Two cricket when the Championship reconvenes.

Notts on the other hand, head into the clash having qualified for Division One and already confirmed through to the knockout phase of the Blast as they look to clinch a home quarter final.  

Watch the Running Foxes Live Through Our Online Streaming Service

Every ball of the Leicestershire Foxes’ home 2021 Vitality Blast campaign will be available to watch via our live streaming service, free of charge.

This season, the Club has worked tirelessly to enhance its live streaming service for all Running Foxes Members and fans that want to tune in and follow Leicestershire throughout the 2021 season.

This year’s live streaming service will include up to six cameras, BBC commentary, graphic overlays and will be available to watch on PC, mobile, tablet, games consoles and TVs via the Club’s social media channels.

Last Time We Met

The teams met just two matches ago at Trent Bridge (July 1) with our hosts recording a six-wicket victory.

Winning the toss and inserting the Running Foxes, Outlaws quickly took the early wicket of Scott Steel before Josh Inglis and Arron Lilley rebuilt. However, the quick wickets of these two key batters plus skipper Colin Ackermann in the space of 10 balls reduced us to 53-4.

As with the Blast quarter-final last year, Harry Swindells led our fightback, hitting 36 from 30 balls with high strike-rate support from Lewis Hill (19, 13b) and in particular, Ben Mike (27, 17b) to get us up to 154, which looked below-par but not far from being as good as we could have hoped for based on the early wickets lost.

In reply, the wicket of Ben Duckett from Callum Parkinson and two in two balls from Naveen-ul-Haq, dismissing Alex Hales and Peter Trego, saw Notts 39-3 after 3.2 overs, and unfortunately for us, the often-quoted mantra that teams who take three wickets in the powerplay usually win didn’t apply, with Ben Slater (48, 31b) and Samit Patel (63 not out, 50b) saw our Midlands rivals get over the winning line for the loss of four wickets with 13 balls to spare.

Head to Head

Naveen-ul-Haq v Calvin Harrison

Leicestershire versus Nottinghamshire brings together a clash of two of the most prolific wicket-takers in this year’s Vitality Blast. Naveen leads the entire tournament with 21 wickets, while Harrison is nine behind with 12 wickets but having bowled fewer balls.

The two pacers have been regular wicket-takers throughout the season, with Naveen (a wicket every 12.76 balls) and Harrison (a wicket every 14.50 balls in an impressive breakthrough season) frequently destroying the dreams of opposition batters.  

From an economy perspective, it is difficult to compare the duo with Naveen bowling primarily in the powerplay and death overs while Harrison operates more in the lower-scoring middle overs, which explains the economy rate difference between the two players - Naveen’s is at 8.77 while Harrison’s is lower at 6.68.

With Notts’ top wicket-taker this season, Jake Ball, called up to the England squad this week for their T20 series with Pakistan, Harrison will be key for the Outlaws’ wicket-taking ambitions against the Running Foxes in this match. With both players operating at an extremely high level in the Blast so far, particularly considering they have a lack of first-team experience in English conditions, this battle of two young players with very high ability ceilings should go a long way to deciding the outcome of Friday night’s match.

Leicestershire Foxes Squad

Head Coach Paul Nixon has named a 13-man squad for the visit of Notts Outlaws as Louis Kimber returns upon completion of his period of self-isolation.

Leicestershire Foxes from 13: Colin Ackermann (C), Ed Barnes, Gavin Griffiths, Lewis Hill, Josh Inglis (wk), Louis Kimber, Arron Lilley, Ben Mike, Naveen, Rishi Patel, Callum Parkinson, Scott Steel, Harry Swindells (wk)

Match Sponsor

Thanks to The Melton Building Society for sponsoring the 2021 Vitality Blast fixture against Notts Outlaws.