Two crucial misfields in the final stages sees Nottinghamshire advance to the T20 Blast semi-finals thanks to a higher score in their six-over Power Play
Match Report:
ScorecardHorror misfields, tiebreak rule hand Notts semi-final spot
Nottinghamshire are through to Finals Day of England's T20 Blast competition after Leicestershire literally let a semi-final spot slip through their fingers at Trent Bridge.
Notts, captained by Australian Dan Christian, required 17 to win from the final seven balls when Leicestershire's Aaron Lilley fumbled on the mid-wicket boundary, handing Samit Patel a four when a single seemed like the more likely outcome.
Needing only a tie to advance to the final four, Notts then required three runs from the last ball to win or two to level the scores. Pakistani Imad Wasim struck the ball firmly to long on and, once again, a single seemed like the most likely result. But Dieter Klein let the ball slip through his hands, allowing the Notts pair to easily complete a second run and knock Leicestershire out of the tournament.
🚨 IT'S THE OUTLAWS!!!! 🚨@TrentBridge are going to Finals Day after a heartbreaking last-ball win over @leicsccc 😮😮😮#Blast20 pic.twitter.com/dj2qdp6qiI— Vitality Blast (@VitalityBlast) October 1, 2020
Despite the controversial fallout to last year's one-day World Cup when England were crowned champions on a boundary countback, Super Overs are not part of the T20 Blast.
Instead, a tied game is won by the team that lost the fewest wickets. But with both teams finishing on 7-139 here, the match was instead decided by the next tiebreaker, the team with the best score after the six-over Powerplay. It meant Notts (1-42 after the Powerplay) advanced ahead of Leicestershire (2-22).
"We got away with that," Christian conceded after the win, which will see his side play Gloucestershire in the semi-finals on Saturday.
The other semi-final will see Surrey take on Lancashire after both teams recorded comfortable wins on Thursday.
England star Jason Roy, who has been linked with a move to the Perth Scorchers in the KFC BBL this season, hit 56 from 42 balls as he and South African veteran Hashim Amla (73no from 53) guided Surrey to a 56-run win over a Kent side featuring England internationals Sam Billings, Zac Crawley and Joe Denly.
In Hove, Liam Livingstone – who has also been linked with a return to the Scorchers this summer – misfired with the bat but made a huge impact with the ball, taking 4-23 as Lancs beat Sussex by 45 runs.