Four wickets in two balls

In the first round of the 2024 One-Day Cup, Nottinghamshire managed to effectively lose four wickets in two balls, after two of their batters retired out. 

At Grace Road in Leicester, Leicestershire took on Nottinghamshire in a Group B first-round fixture in the One-Day Cup. After being put into bat, the home side put up a solid showing. Openers Harry Swindell (35) and Sol Budinger (75) put on 95 for the first wicket, before brisk half-centuries from captain Lewis Hill (81) and new signing Ajinkya Rahane (71), as well as 33 extras, helped power them to 369-6.

Notts made a relatively sedate start with the bat as Ben Slater and Freddie McCann took their side to 48-0 by the end of the tenth over. One ball into the eleventh, with the score 50-0, the umpires called the players off due to rain, and there was a long delay.

Notts lose four wickets in two balls after double retirement

By the time play resumed, Notts' target had been revised to 105 in 14 overs, meaning they needed a further 55 runs from 23 balls. At this point, they took the bold decision to retire out both openers in order to send a few more big hitters out to the middle, reducing them to 50-2.

Jack Haynes and Tom Moores replaced the Notts openers, but disaster struck as Haynes attempted to launch his first delivery over midwicket, only to be trapped lbw by Tom Scriven. Off the very next delivery, new batter Lyndon James connected with a similar shot, but only picked out the fielder on the boundary.

After retiring out two batters, and losing two more in the following two deliveries, Notts managed a unique feat of losing four wickets in the space of two balls, going from 50-0 in 10.1 overs to 50-4 in 10.3 overs. They went on to score 89-6 in 14 overs, losing by 15 runs on the DLS method.

One-Day Cup roundup: Chappell's all-round show the highlight, Barnard, Pollock slam massive tons

The first day of action in the tournament was a high-scoring one as four of the five matches saw first-inning totals in excess of 300. Zak Chappell was the star of the round, as he took 4-39 for Derbyshire to bowl Northamptonshire out for 235 before rescuing his side from 79-7, scoring 94 from No.9 in a 121-run partnership with Ross Whiteley and securing victory with eight balls to spare.

Josh Bohannon's 147 for Lancashire was a valiant effort in vain, as his side failed to chase 345 against Durham. Warwickshire captain Ed Barnard was also in fine form, cracking an unbeaten 173 off 140 balls to help chase down 325 against Essex. Worcestershire thrashed Middlesex by 188 runs after posting 371-3, courtesy of centuries from Gareth Roderick (115) and Ed Pollock (180), who put on a 259-run opening stand.

One-Day Cup scores on July 24, 2024

Northamptonshire 235 in 47 overs (Gay 59, Chappell 4-39) LOST to Derbyshire 236-8 in 48.4 overs (Chappell 94, Weatherall 4-50) by two wickets

Durham 344-4 in 50 overs (Lees 111, de Leede 72) BEAT Lancashire 287 in 45.1 overs (Bohannon 147, Ackermann 3-37) by 57 runs

Essex 324-7 in 50 overs (Browne 75, Hannon-Dalby 3-69) LOST to Warwickshire 328-3 in 47.4 overs (Barnard 173*, Burgess 59*) by seven wickets

Worcestershire 371-3 in 48 overs (Pollock 180, Roderick 115) BEAT Middlesex 188 in 25.4 overs (Stoneman 75, Sturgess 3-37) by 188 runs

Leicestershire 369-6 in 50 overs (Hill 81, Budinger 75) BEAT Nottinghamshire 89-6 in 14 overs (Slater 24, Scriven 3-20) by 15 runs (DLS method)

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