Notts v Surrey, One-Day Cup Final Review: Alex Hales' one man show does the job

Alex Hales registered the highest ever score by a batsman at Lord’s in a One-Day game as Nottinghamshire won the Royal London One-Day Cup final by 4 wickets. It was an action-packed final at the holistic cricketing destination as the Notts comfortably edged their opponents courtesy a marvellous batting display from Hales.

Batting first, Mark Stoneman’s fireworks alongside English International Jason Roy gave Surrey an ideal start. The duo 83 runs in just 11 overs as there was no one stopping Stoneman’s exploits. Interestingly, Roy, who likes to take charge of the innings, played the supporting role and scored 23 runs out of the 83, before Samit Patel sent him back.

Stoneman added another 50-run stand with Kumar Sangakkara and Surrey kept scoring at a brisk rate of 6.4 till the 22nd over. With Stoneman looking in devastating touch, it seemed as though Surrey will inevitably score around 330-340. But an inspiring comeback from the Notts bowlers changed the whole course of the match.

After Sangakkara’s scalp was picked by Steven Mullaney, wickets fell at regular intervals and the run flow dried up. Stoneman kept striking few boundaries here and there, but the other batsmen failed to accompany him on their quest to a big total. Apart from Sam Curran’s 24, no one crossed the 20-run barrier and eventually it led to Surrey’s downfall in the death overs.

Stoneman did get to a century and finished unbeaten on 144 off 149 balls. Surrey finished 20-30 runs short of what they expected as they piled up 297 runs on the board losing 9 wickets. Samit Patel was the star for the Notts as he ended with figures of 10-0-51-3, whereas Mullaney took a brace.

Alex Hales – The one man warrior

If Nottinghamshire’s batting display should be summed up in a couple of words, it would be “Alex Hales”. Chasing a target of 298, they had momentum on their side as their bowlers did a splendid job in the death overs. Yet, it was an action replay of the first innings, with just one batsman compiling the majority of the runs and the others not quite supporting him. It was Stoneman for Surrey and for their compatriots, it was Hales.

The 28-year-old’s innings was a lot more special as his strike-rate didn’t dip at any point. Though wickets kept tumbling at regular intervals from the other end, Hales kept going. Barring Brendan Taylor (11) no one registered double digits in the top 6 and just when things started to shift in Surrey’s favour, Chris Read, Notts’ captain, playing his last match chipped in.

If ever there was anything Hales was craving for, it was for some support at the other end and Read did a splendid job by not just blocking his end, but also rotating the strike. After adding a diamond worthy 137+run stand with Hales, Read was sent back by Sam Curran but not before he scored 58 off 57 balls. Hales finished the final rites alongside Australian James Pattinson as the Notts clinched the Royal London Cup by 4 wickets.

Brief scores:

Surrey: 297/9 in 50 overs (Mark Stoneman 144*, Sam Curran 24; Samit Patel 3/51)

Nottinghamshire: 298/6 in 47.5 overs (Alex Hales 187*, Chris Read 58; Sam Curran 3/68)