Nottinghamshire 145 for 3 (Trego 39) beat Leicestershire 144 (Fletcher 4-30, Paterson 3-25) by seven wickets
Nottinghamshire advanced their Royal London Cup ambitions in ruthless style, cruising past Leicestershire by seven wickets with almost 30 overs to balls to spare in front of an appreciative audience at Welbeck Cricket Club.
Skipper Peter Trego hit two sixes off pace bowler Chris Wright in his 31-ball 39, Ben Slater picked up six boundaries in his 38 and the young South African batter Matthew Montgomery made 27 not out, reaching a target of 145 in 20.2 overs.
Earlier, Luke Fletcher had taken 4 for 30 and Dane Paterson 3 for 25 as Leicestershire were bowled out in 43.1 overs, 16-year-old legspinning all-rounder Rehan Ahmed top-scoring with 35 not out, the highest score of a fledgling senior career, as he and Ben Mike shared a 70-run stand for the eighth wicket.
In overcast conditions after Nottinghamshire had won the toss, Fletcher had Rishi Patel edging to second slip and nipped one back to bowl Harry Swindells in his first three overs, as well as having Lewis Hill dropped at second slip before he had scored.
Fletcher removed Marcus Harris, the Australian left-hander nicking behind for 16, and Hill had another escape a couple of balls later as a miscued pull fell just out of the reach of midwicket.
Paterson dismissed George Rhodes via a low catch to second slip before Fletcher, who ultimately bowled through for his full 10 overs, picked up his fourth wicket as an Arron Lilley prod outside off lodged in the gloves of the wicketkeeper. When Louis Kimber edged Paterson to first slip, Leicestershire were 53 for 6 in the 18th, which became 68 for 7 as Hill departed for 25, a third victim for 'keeper Dane Schadendorf a day after his 19th birthday.
Ahmed and Mike fought back, adding 70 for the eighth wicket with the teenager looking entirely unfazed in only his third senior game, but once Mike had been caught on the midwicket boundary, Slater parrying the ball into the air before ensuring his feet were the right side of the rope as he took the catch, the innings ended quickly, Ed Barnes playing across one from Trego before Chris Wright was caught behind.
Sol Budinger set the tone for the Outlaws chase by smashing three of his first 11 balls for four before edging behind as he went for another expansive drive, with Slater and Trego soon rattling along at a similar pace as the Powerplay overs yielded 62 for 1 compared with the Foxes' 21 for 2.
Trego pulled Wright for six and picked up another maximum from a steepling top edge and though both fell to quick succession, the double breakthrough won merely a stay of execution for Leicestershire before Montgomery and Lyndon James added 48 runs in 39 balls to finish the job.
After Trego feathered a catch behind shaping to cut Ahmed's legspin, Slater perished in similar fashion to Mike, having timed the ball superbly until then. Remarkably, it was the first time in seven completed innings in List A matches for Nottinghamshire that he had failed to pass fifty.
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