ABOUT THE MATCH
Nottinghamshire Outlaws will look to extend their winning momentum while Durham Jets will look to bow out of the tournament on a high when the two teams lock horns on August 30. The Trent Bridge in Nottingham will host this North Group fixture of the Vitality T20 Blast 2019.
Nottinghamshire has already qualified for the knockout round. They will be seeking their fourth win on the bounce and would want to take enough momentum with them into the quarter-finals.
Their previous fixture – against Worcestershire Rapids the other day at Worcester – had to be called off due to rain without a ball bowled. Durham, on the other hand, has had a very disappointing tournament this year and they cannot possibly make it past the group stage now even if they win this match which will be their final game of the season.
They will be going into this game on the back of a seven-wicket loss in the rain-affected encounter against the Birmingham Bears.
TOSS PREDICTION
At the Trent Bridge this season, the side batting first has had more success than the side batting second. And also since bowlers have found a little more assistance from the wicket here during the second period of play, the team that wins the toss in this match is more likely to bat first.
PITCH AND CONDITION
No rain has been forecast for this match with the skies likely to remain clear on Friday evening. The weather should be cool throughout the duration of the game with temperatures expected to be between 17 and 21 degrees Celsius. Humidity should be around 54-73% with a moderate breeze blowing across the stadium.
The pitch at the Trent Bridge has been pretty good for batting with 150+ being scored on four occasions in the five completed matches that have been played here in this year’s T20 Blast. However, it does tend to get a bit slower as the game progresses and that is evident from the fact that the side batting first at this ground has won four times out of five this season.
PROBABLE PLAYING XI OF Nottinghamshire
Joe Clarke, Alex Hales, Ben Duckett, Jake Libby, Tom Moores (wk), Daniel Christian (c), Samit Patel, Luke Fletcher, Matthew Carter, Luke Wood/Jake Ball, Harry Gurney
PROBABLE PLAYING XI OF Durham
D’Arcy Short, Scott Steel, Harry Adair, Peter Handscomb (c/wk), Graham Clark, Ben Raine, James Weighell, Gareth Harte, Liam Trevaskis, Matty Potts, Nathan Rimmington
MATCH PREVIEW
Nottinghamshire
- Nottinghamshire made only one change to their line-up in the previous match against Yorkshire in T20 Blast 2019- they brought all-rounder Luke Wood in place of fast bowler Jake Ball.
- With Wood returning expensive figures, the team might consider bringing Ball back for this upcoming encounter against Durham.
- Jake Libby was sent ahead of Tom Moores and Daniel Christian last time and his impressive performance with the bat means that he could continue at number four.
- Nottinghamshire is unlikely to tinker with their opening combination of Joe Clarke and Alex Hales.
- Ben Duckett will probably continue to bat at number three while off-spinner Matthew Carter could be given the ball again in the powerplay.
- With six wins, three losses and four washouts from thirteen matches, Nottinghamshire Outlaws are currently second on the North Group points table with 16 points and have already booked their ticket to the quarter-finals.
- They have secured wins in their last three completed fixtures on the bounce – against Birmingham Bears by 28 runs (D/L method) before beating Leicestershire Foxes and Yorkshire Vikings by seven wickets and three runs respectively.
- Nottinghamshire played their previous match against Worcestershire with whom they had to share points as the game ended in a washout.
Durham
- Durham dropped fast bowler Brydon Carse after his expensive returns of 0-23 from two overs against Yorkshire and replaced him with medium-pacer James Weighell in the last match against Birmingham Bears.
- Although Weighell ended up conceding 19 runs off the one over that he bowled, he might be given another opportunity considering the team now has nothing to lose.
- Durham do not have any injury scares ahead of this game and they are expected to go in with an unchanged line-up.
- Durham has struggled to win games in this 2019 edition of the Vitality Blast. They currently find themselves second from the bottom in their group standings with four wins, seven defeats and a couple of rained-out games from the thirteen they have played so far.
- Durham has not won consecutive games this season and they have not been able to find consistency right from the start of the tournament.
- They have suffered defeats in their last three completed matches – against Worcestershire by three runs, then against Yorkshire by 14 runs before going down by seven wickets to Birmingham Bears in their most recent encounter.
PROBABLE WINNING TEAM:
Nottinghamshire is the in-form team at the moment which is why we are backing them to secure a couple more points on Friday.
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