The enforced retirement of James Taylor has seen Nottinghamshire’s players pledge the delivery of silverware this season in his honour and, after a tense fourth-day run chase in their campaign opener, a three-wicket victory over newly promoted Surrey made it the perfect start.
When the No9 batsman, Jake Ball, crashed the winning runs past point at 5pm, with Notts seven down in pursuit of 169, the sense of relief around Trent Bridge was palpable; what had begun as a cruise at 72 for no loss had turned into a nail-biter, thanks to Tom Curran’s four for 58 and three wickets for Ravi Rampaul.
“As soon as we found out [about Taylor] we said we’ve got to win him a trophy,” said the seamer Ball, who had earlier claimed his second first-class five-wicket haul with figures of five for 98 as Surrey were finally bowled out on the stroke of lunch for 389, following on.
“James is an exceptional talent and it’s sad that it’s all been taken away from him. He’s been a massive part of this club for a number of years. What we can do is put wins on the board and trophies in the cabinet for him. So it’s great to get points on the board early.”
It was easy to see why both Ball and Curran will soon enter England’s thoughts, with the twist in the chase owing much to the latter’s afternoon gutting of the Notts middle order, as a spell of three for nought in seven balls followed Rampaul’s initial removal of Steven Mullaney, the first-innings centurion, lbw for 42.
Curran, tearing in from the Pavilion End, would tease edges from Michael Lumb and Brendan Taylor in his eighth over – the latter flying off the thumb to second slip – before following it up in the ninth, when Riki Wessels gave Ben Foakes his second of three catches behind the stumps. It was a breathtaking burst from a 21-year-old right-armer, whose 76 wickets drove Surrey to the Division Two title last summer, with Notts eventually crawling into the tea interval at 116 for five after Samit Patel’s loose waft to slip off Rampaul had capped off the session.
The opener Greg Smith had remained steady as the chaos unfolded at the other end but with 33 runs remaining was once again welcoming a new man to the crease as the captain, Chris Read, perished lbw to a ball from Rampaul that, like Mullaney’s dismissal, suggested it may have been going down leg.
Fears of Notts losing a match in which they had scored 446 on the first day only increased further when, shortly after bring up his half-century, and having early shared stand of 72 with Mullaney, Smith was removed by the Curran/Foakes combination.
But the cool heads of the No8, Brett Hutton, 13 not out, and Ball, unbeaten on five, combined to scrub off the remaining 17 runs of the chase and ensure a tough week off the field for the home side would at least be accompanied by returning a maximum 24 points on it.
Surrey, meanwhile, will be heartened by the senior Curran’s fight – his brother Sam went curiously unused with the ball – as well as Arun Harinath’s second innings 137 and eight wickets on debut for winter Kolpak signing Rampaul.
The West Indian seamer’s habit of overstepping, which cost 26 runs in a tight match, will need addressing fast however.
