Trent Rockets fightback to stun Northern Superchargers in thriller

Alex Hales punished Ben Stokes’ rare fielding error in a bizarre incident to earn Trent Rockets an unlikely victory as the hosts recovered from 58-6 to complete a dramatic two-wicket victory at Trent Bridge.

The Rockets opener was ably supported by lower-order cameos from Rashid Khan (25 off 12) and Matthew Carter (13* off 8), before sealing the win with a huge six off David Willey. The home side rallied from a batting collapse to reach their target of 133 with six balls remaining and go top of the table in a match dominated by spin.

After electing to bat first on a used pitch, the Superchargers struggled for large parts against a variety of spin options and were bowled out for 132 off the penultimate ball without hitting a six, which nonetheless represented a reasonably competitive total considering the slow nature of conditions.

Their innings was largely built around the fourth-wicket partnership worth 61 off 40 balls between the inform Harry Brook (38) and wicketkeeper John Simpson (42), whilst Rashid Khan and Marchant de Lange took three wickets apiece.

At one stage, local spinner Carter had figures of 2-3 from ten balls after claiming the scalps of big-hitting Australian Chris Lynn (10) and key man Stokes (5) early on, before Rashid Khan bowled Adam Lyth (10) as the visitors limped to 56-3 at the halfway stage in which 40 of the deliveries were bowled by the spinners.

Brook and Simpson’s pressure-relieving half-century stand appeared to set the platform for a score in the region of 150, until a breakthrough by captain Lewis Gregory to remove Brook brought about a late flurry of wickets which halted the momentum.

Khan returned to bowl Tom Kohler-Cadmore (6) and then dismissed his Afghan international teammate Mujeeb Ur Rahman caught in the deep by Hales without scoring to end with figures of 3-31.

De Lange, who remains the only player to take a five-wicket haul in the competition, added to his tally as Willey and Brydon Carse fell for first-ball ball ducks. Adil Rashid confidently defended the hat trick ball but the visitors had lost four wickets in the space of five balls to leave the score at 109-8.

Simpson was eventually out caught in the final five balls to become de Lange’s eighth victim in just two games as the paceman ended with more impressive figures of 3-22.

Rashid (10) was run out off the 99th ball of the innings in an attempt to keep the strike as the Superchargers became the second side to lose all ten wickets short of their allocation in the men’s competition.

After D’Arcy Short began the reply brightly, the chase took a drastic turn for worse as three batsmen fell in the space of five balls for no runs.

Packed with their own array of talented spinners, Mujeeb got the all-important first wicket for the visitors by removing the dangerous Short (14) LBW, with the Australian’s review in vain.

Rashid’s astonishing opening spell then swiftly shifted the balance of play in favour of the Superchargers as England duo Dawid Malan and Joe Root were dismissed in consecutive deliveries without troubling the scorers to silence the vocal home support.

Samit Patel (13) and Tom Moores (4) soon fell to Callum Parkinson and Stokes respectively, before Leicestershire spinner Parkinson claimed his second wicket by bowling the aggressive Gregory (14) as the hosts slumped to 58-6 off 58 balls.

Hales was still at the crease but starved of the strike and when the opportunities did arise, the Nottinghamshire batsman was struggling to find the middle of the bat and only managed 12 runs from his first 22 deliveries as the scoreboard pressure continued to mount.

He could only stand and admire as Khan blitzed 25 off just 12 balls which included four boundaries and a six to keep the hosts in contention, but when Stokes ended the Afghan’s enterprising knock with a third catch of the innings behind the stumps for Simpson, the Rockets still required a further 48 runs from 29 deliveries.

Then came the potentially match-changing moment. As Hales eased the ball into the offside for a single off Rashid, a fan entered the field of play and ran across the outfield. After a healthy discussion between officials and players, Stokes’ protests convinced the umpire to signal a dead ball to be re-bowled.

Hales then launched the next delivery towards long-off where Stokes uncharacteristically put down a routine catch on the boundary which subsequently went for six. The equation, from what should have been 41 runs needed off 23 balls, suddenly became 36 from 23 and more in favour of the batting side.

In a topsy-turvy chase, Mujeeb then conceded just five runs from his final five balls, including the wicket of Luke Wood (4), to leave 28 to win off 15.

Stokes’ evening then went from bad to worse as number ten batsman Carter crashed the ball through the leg side to the boundary rope, before Hales landed a huge blow in a set of five which yielded 16 runs.

Carter, who averages little over eight in t20 cricket, then smashed England international Willey for a maximum to send the home crowd wild, before a no-ball put the home side within touching distance of the victory target as the game quickly unravelled for the Superchargers.

Hales thumped the following free hit high into the leg-side stand for six to complete a remarkable comeback win in 94 balls and spark jubilant celebrations amongst the 11,500 fans.

The Trent Rockets have impressed so far and moved to the top of the table after their second successive win on home turf but for the Northern Superchargers, they have now lost back-to-back games and are still looking for their first win in the Hundred.

However, both teams will be without key men Joe Root and Ben Stokes for the remainder of the competition who both link up with the England squad ahead of the start of the India Test series next Wednesday, also at Trent Bridge.

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