Nottinghamshire 100 for 3 (Hales 50*) beat Worcestershire 141 for 6 (Hose 43) by 1 run - DLS
Alex Hales helped Nottinghamshire celebrate their first win of the summer in the Vitality Blast after overcoming Worcestershire Rapids by one run under the Duckworth-Lewis Method at Visit Worcestershire New Road.
The Outlaws had lost their opening five matches in the competition including the meeting with the Rapids at Trent Bridge nine days ago. But a disciplined bowling performance by their seamers restricted the home side to 141 for 6 under heavy skies.
Then Hales batted responsibly to ensure there was little threat of Notts falling behind the Duckworth-Lewis Method. He scored 50 not out from 37 balls to guide his side to victory by the narrowest of margins.
For Worcestershire it was a third successive defeat.
Nottinghamshire captain Joe Clarke won the toss and elected to bowl first on a fresh hybrid pitch which was two-paced in nature. He persevered with all-pace during the powerplay and was rewarded with three wickets.
Ben Lister made the first breakthrough when Worcestershire Club captain, Brett D'Oliveira, top-edged a catch to third man. Josh Cobb was then trapped lbw by Matt Montgomery working to leg and Matthew Waite pulled Olly Stone into the hands of deep mid wicket.
Worcestershire were restricted to 27 for 3 in the first six overs and it became 42 for 4 when Ethan Brookes went to cut and was bowled.
The Rapids broke the shackles in the 15th over from Lyndon James which yielded 15 runs with Nathan Smith smashing a six over long off.
Adam Hose and Nathan Smith added 69 for the fifth wicket with the latter striking maximums off Lyndon James and Calvin Harrison. But Harrison brome the stand when Smith perished on the deep midwicket boundary.
Hose battled away to make 43 off 35 balls before he holed out to long on in the penultimate over from Ben Lister.
Worcestershire's new ball attack of Smith and Tom Taylor bowled accurately and the latter made the breakthrough when Joe Clarke (26) lost his middle stump.
Run-scoring was again not a straightforward process on this surface and the increasingly leaden skies meant Nottinghamshire had one eye on Duckworth Lewis.
Hales ensured they moved comfortably ahead with two sixes in the opening over from Cobb. But West Indian spinner, Hayden Walsh, struck in his first over when he bowled Will Young to leave the game again in the balance.
Walsh made it two wickets in two overs as Haynes went for a reverse-sweep and was lbw.
But Hales again wrestled the initiative for his side with two enormous pulls over the midwicket boundary at Walsh's expense to edge Notts in front.
