'Give it five' call to the outlaws
Source -
thisisnottingham.co.uk
Mick Newell has set Notts Outlaws a target of five wins to qualify for the quarter-finals of the Twenty20 group games.
Notts have so far won two and lost one of their three Twenty20 games ahead of the visit of Leicestershire Foxes to Trent Bridge tonight (5.30).
And Notts' director of cricket believes three more wins from the five remaining matches should be enough to complete the job.
"Last year, teams were winning five of their games to qualify for the knock-out stages, so that has to be the initial aim," said Newell.
"If you don't get off to a decent start it is difficult to build up any kind of momentum and the interest level of the players can drop.
"It would have been very tough for us to qualify if we'd lost our first two or three but now we've had a reasonable start we are optimistic of qualifying.
"We have started well but this week is a big one for us with four games in six days and we'll have a good idea of where we stand after it.
"So there is still a way to go and we have to keep winning to make sure we get through. We cannot take our foot off the pedal."
If Notts do qualify, it will be the first time they have got past the group stages in four seasons of the competition.
Newell puts the improvement so far largely down to better batting that has led to competitive totals.
He said: "We have been better in the field than in previous seasons and the bowling so far has been steady. But now we are putting the runs on the board to give us a chance of winning games. The last two we have won we have batted first and posted defendable totals.
"That has not always been the case previously."
The Twenty20 is dismissed by some purists as lacking credibility, only for the purpose of generating revenue through big crowds.
But Newell insists Notts are taking it very seriously - especially because they are already out of the running for two of the four trophies.
"You have to think that we are not going to win the County Championship now and we are already out of the C &G, so that makes this even more important," he said.
"The players want to be winning medals and picking up silverware and this is now one of their best chances of doing that."
"We will be going all out to win the competition, as we do with everything that we enter."
Batsman Anurag Singh will play no further part in the Twenty20 Cup after dislocating his shoulder while fielding against Yorkshire on Friday night.
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