May saw Nottinghamshire return home to Trent Bridge for the first time this season and also sees the Outlaws begin the defence of their One Day Cup.
County Championship - Hampshire at Trent Bridge 04/05-07/05
After winning the toss, Notts elected to bat but slumped to 27-3. The middle-order clicked though with Ross Taylor scoring 47, Samit Patel 73 and Riki Wessels 54 but it was Harry Gurney's 16 not out, with each run cheered to the rafters, that took the home side past 300. In return Stuart Broad took a wicket in his first over as Hants also struggled early on as they slipped to 23-3. Hashim Amla (69) and wicketkeeper Lewis McManus (66) helped them to 223 all out as Broad and Patel both finished with three wickets. Skipper Steve Mullaney hit his first century as captain and his 130 with support from Jake Libby (54) and Ross Taylor (83) meant that Notts could declare on 389-9 a lead of 468. A good start in reply saw the visitors reach 82 without loss but a mini-collapse took them to 93-3. A batting masterclass from Amla saw him score 112 but 3 wickets each for Jake Ball, Broad and Gurney and Notts won by 203 runs and went to the top of the league.
County Championship - Lancashire at Trent Bridge 11/05-14/05
Lancashire's visit to Trent Bridge was a battle between England bowlers past and present as Jimmy Anderson and Graham Onions faced off against Stuart Broad and Jake Ball. It was the visitors that took the initiative after choosing to field, bowling out Notts for just 133. In reply, another England hopeful Keaton Jennings scored 126 and even though Broad took four wickets, Lancashire posted 338. Then it was the Anderson (4-26) and Onions (6-55) show - at one point Notts were three wickets down for just one run scored. 46 from Jake Libby and 35 from Riki Wessels saw them limp to 138 all out, a defeat by an innings and 67 runs being a rude awakening.
One Day Cup - Lancashire at Old Trafford 17/05
The vagaries of the domestic cricket season then saw Nottinghamshire head up to face Lancashire in the 50-over competition. The current champions elected to bat first and with Lancs missing Onions and Anderson they looked a lot more comfortable. There were no massive scores but 52 from Chris Nash, 47 from Tom Moores, 58 from Ross Taylor and 70 from captain Steven Mullaney saw them reach an impressive 318 despite Matthew Parkinson taking five wickets. Keaton Jennings kept going where he left off with 136 runs but when Harry Gurney removed him in the 47th over, the hosts chase lost momentum at a crucial time and they fell 9 runs short.
One Day Cup - Northamptonshire at Welbeck 20/05
Notts took their first home game in the competition out to the picturesque Welbeck Colliery Cricket Club and proved to be very generous host as Northamptonshire hit 339 in their fifty overs. 78 from Josh Cobb, 72 from captain Alex Wakely and 50 from wicket keeper Adam Rossington were the basis of their total. Former Notts bowler Brett Hutton was the pick of the visitor's bowlers taking 2-37 with the best economy rate of the match (5.05) as Notts fell 49 runs short of Northants.
One Day Cup - Leicestershire at Grace Road 23/05
Notts wouldn't have to wait long to return to winning ways though as they visited local rivals Leicestershire. The hosts won the toss and chose to field as Notts scored a mammoth 409 featuring 56 from Chris Nash, 76 each from Riki Wessels and Tom Moores and a century from Samit Patel that included 14 fours and 2 sixes. In reply, Leicestershire scored what would usually be an impressive 316-9, including 69 from Tom Wells and 52 from Varun Aaron but it was all in vain as Harry Gurney took four wickets, helping to seal a 93 run victory.
One Day Cup - Yorkshire at Headingly 25/05
Abandoned without a ball being bowled
One Day Cup - Warwickshire at Trent Bridge 27/05
Warwickshire were the visitors for this year's family fun day at Trent Bridge and a big crowd were treated to some great weather and some pretty good cricket too. Batting first, Warwickshire scored 295-9 from their fifty overs, Sam Hain top scoring with 72. Matt Carter was the pick of the bowlers on his 50-over debut for the club as he took 4-40. Ross Taylor hit 56 but after slipping to 4-2, Notts were always struggling and lost by 108 runs as Aaron Thomason took 4-45. This was the sort of game last year where one of the Notts batters would have taken responsibility and scored big but it wasn't to be and it left Notts at P5 W2 D1 L2 with just three games to go in the group stage.
Duck of the Month: Ross Taylor against Lancashire - a golden duck meant that Notts overseas player got an unwelcome "pair" in the home defeat to the red rose county
Player of the Month: Ross Taylor. They were his only real mis-steps in May as he scored consistently throughout the month, finishing with 289 runs. Much like Joe Root, he just needs to convert some of those 50s into 100s now though.
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