Durham vs Nottinghamshire, VITALITY T20 BLAST 2023, Today Match Prediction

dur vs notts Match Prediction & Analysis

Durham will be playing Yorkshire at Leeds before they face Notts Outlaws on the very next day. It will be crucial to watch out for Durham’s performance in that match to get a better assessment of what to expect in this contest. 

Notts Outlaws have played two matches, one home, and one away. They chased down a 179-run target quite comfortably at home. Joe Clarke and Matthew Montgomery were among the major contributors in that win.

In the next game, Tom Moores also joined Montgomery, who continued his good form, in making significant contributions to the team total. Outlaws, nevertheless, fell short of the target by 22 runs. Though Durham started with a 10-wicket win over Northamptonshire, they would be tested against Yorkshire, and only then can you get a much clearer picture of their current form.

Nathan Sowter and Trevaskis, nevertheless, will be the key players in the spin department for Durham. Graham Clark’s hundred was definitely impressive but we haven’t watched other batters this season yet. And that’s what makes Durham’s game against Yorkshire so important.

TEAMS PREVIEW

Durham Preview

In their second match of the season, which is against Yorkshire, Durham aren’t the favorites in spite of their recent win and the oppositions’ consecutive losses in the last two games. 

Along with the home advantage, Yorkshire also lead in the head-to-head stats against Durham. The result of that game will affect Durham’s position in this contest against Notts Outlaws.

Last season, Durham managed to win only 3 of the 14 matches. They lost both of their encounters against Notts Outlaws, at Riverside Ground, and Trent Bridge. They lost on both occasions against the Yorkshire Vikings as well. Going by their record, it seems Durham will be facing a tough battle against two tough teams.

However, let’s now consider the current scenario. It is still early in the league and though it’s not a great idea to speculate based on just one game, Durham are already one up. They won by a huge margin in their last game as Graham Clark scored unbeaten 102 off 49 balls against Northants.

Their leg-break bowler Nathan Sowter picked a fifer earlier in the game to restrict the opposition to just 137. Yorkshire, on the other hand, have lost both of their recent matches while Notts have been inconsistent with the ball. Durham will back themselves to gain the upperhand in both of their upcoming encounters.

Durham Predicted Playing XI:

Alex Lees (c), Michael Jones, Graham Clark, Oliver Robinson (wk), Ashton Turner, Bas de Leede, Luke Doneathy, Liam Trevaskis, Ben Raine, Nathan Sowter, Brandon Glover

Durham Actual Playing XI:

Michael Jones, Luke Doneathy, Wayne Parnell, Alex Lees, Bas de Leede, Ashton Turner, Ollie Robinson, Ben Raine, Graham Clark, Liam Trevaskis, Nathan Sowter

Nottinghamshire Preview

Notts Outlaws will be eager to continue their dominance over Durham after they finished with a 2-0 head-to-head last season.

Though their overseas bowler, Shaheen Afridi was expensive in the last game, he is still their key performer with the new ball. Afridi will be expected to get rid of Durham’s centurion and opener Graham Clark early in the innings.

Though there are a few good batters in Durham’s middle order like Michael Jones and Ashton Turner, there aren’t many who are reliable in the lineup. And as such, skipper Mullaney, who himself is among the wicket-takers for Notts, will be hoping for his bowlers to adapt an attacking approach against Durham.

There is a variety in this Outlaws’ bowling attack with Mullaney using up to 7 bowlers. Conor McKerr is another key pace bowler in this setup while the veteran all-rounder Samit Patel hasn’t found his rhythm with the ball yet. Another key feature of the Notts lineup is their batting depth.

Samit Patel was one of the key finishers until a few seasons ago, who now comes in to bat at number 8. That is a good decision given he may not be striking so consistently now, but the likes of Mullaney and Lyndon James who bat at 6 and 7, haven’t looked anything close to that of a finisher. 

Nevertheless, they do have Joe Clarke and Alex Hales in the top order who are among the best T20 players and will be ones to watch out for.

Nottinghamshire Predicted Playing XI:

Joe Clarke, Alex Hales, Colin Munro, Matthew Montgomery, Tom Moores (wk), Steven Mullaney (c), Lyndon James, Samit Patel, Matthew Carter, Shaheen Afridi, Conor McKerr

Nottinghamshire Actual Playing XI:

Alex Hales, Steven Mullaney, Tom Moores, Matthew Carter, Conor McKerr, Matthew Montgomery, Colin Munro, Lyndon James, Joe Clarke, Samit Patel, Shaheen Afridi

PITCH AND WEATHER CONDITIONS

Weather Conditions

It is a batting-friendly pitch at the Riverside Ground and team batting first can back themselves to post a big total. Though the pitch will still help the batters while chasing, having a big total on the board is almost half-job done. Hence, there will be no clear winner and we will have an exciting contest between these two teams. The weather will be partly cloudy with a high of 17 degrees Celsius

Venue Details

The average 1st innings score on this ground is 160 runs while the highest total is 223 runs that belongs to Durham. A total of 23 times, teams have crossed the 170-run mark on this ground. We reckon a 180+ score would be competitive at this venue. But if Durham were to bat first, they would need an even bigger total given how they’ve lost to Notts Outlaws while defending 183 last year.

Toss: To Bowl

Looking at the stats, there is no clear advantage for either batting or bowling team on this ground. Of the 60 domestic T20 matches played here, team batting first have won 31 matches. The pitch will not change much during the course of the game, and teams with a strong batting order can chase down a total.