Brown on fire for Outlaws

Ali Brown smites through the off side during his swashbuckling 65, which set up an eight-wicket win

Ali Brown’s third half-century in three Twenty20 Cup matches helped Nottinghamshire cruise to victory over Derbyshire by eight wickets, although Leicestershire’s win over Yorkshire at Grace Road means Notts cannot reach the quarter-finals.

The 39-year-old thumped 65 off 42 balls with six fours and two sixes and, after hitting only 29 in the first six innings of the competition, now has 203 in the last three games.

He was ably assisted by Matt Wood (34) and Will Jefferson (31 not out), as Notts overhauled the Derbyshire total of 165 for six in the 17th over.

The visitors’ innings was anchored by Graham Wagg’s 62 and an unbeaten 45 from Wavell Hinds, while Notts veteran Mark Ealham bowled a double-wicket maiden on his way to 3-20.

Derbyshire openers Wagg and Chris Rogers had got off to a good start in reaching 38 after four overs, but the introduction of Ealham’s medium pace in the fifth over put the brakes on their innings.

Rogers chipped a simple return catch to the bowler and Ealham was celebrating again three balls later when Greg Smith’s swipe across the line only resulted in his off stump being flattened.

Wagg rode his luck with two dropped catches but also hit three sixes, including two straight maximums off David Hussey’s off-spin following the loss of Stuart Law.

But in trying to hit the third ball of Hussey’s over for another six, Wagg found Darren Pattinson at long-on, and, despite some late hitting from Hinds, the Derbyshire total looked short of what was needed.

That proved the case as Brown and Wood again got off to a flying start, as they passed 50 in only the fourth over with Wood hitting six fours off 16 balls before he was trapped lbw by Nantie Hayward.

But Brown’s red-hot form in the competition continued with some ferocious straight hits and over the covers, while Jefferson was happy to pass the strike on to his partner.

Brown reached his fifty off 30 balls with a leg-glance to the boundary and, although he was yorked by Wagg with 14 runs required, Hussey launched a six over cover to secure victory with 20 balls to spare.