Nottinghamshire's Darren Pattinson proves too much for Warwickshire

Twenty-over cricket can be a liberating experience, and the advent of this year's short-form competition may just prove to have been a turning point in Nottinghamshire's season. Batsmen who were struggling for fluency in championship cricket are savouring the freedom that comes with an imperative to score off every ball, and like their two previous wins, the Outlaws' third success in as many games was based on weight of runs. Winning the toss and batting helped, though possibly not as much as Warwickshire's remarkable propensity for bowling leg-side full tosses to a short leg-side boundary. Ant Botha, Steffan Piolet and especially Neil Carter were guilty, and Riki Wessels was the first to take full advantage in going to his 50 off 32 balls. Adam Voges lofted Botha into the hands of Rikki Clarke at long-on when he and Wessells had added 61 for the second wicket, but Wessells had hit four sixes in going to 70 off just 43 balls when Darren Maddy's throw from the cover boundary found him just short of his ground. David Hussey, less overtly spectacular but almost as quick-scoring, ensured the run rate did not fall off by too much over the second half of the innings. The Australian had scored 56 off 31 balls when he steered a wide delivery from Carter to Maddy on the point boundary, but it was a rare moment of triumph for the bowler, whose figures of 2-61 from four overs were the most expensive in Warwickshire's T20 history. Carter failed with the bat too, though he could hardly be blamed for responding when Will Porterfield called him for a run that was never there. By then Bears' opener Varun Chopra had slogged Luke Fletcher high to Steven Mullaney at deep square-leg, but the middle order gave the home crowd something to cheer about. Jim Troughton and Maddy added 54 in good time for the fourth wicket, and after Troughton had his stumps spread-eagled by the impressive Darren Pattinson, the young all-rounder Keith Barker twice deposited Mullaney into the stands. Maddy hit four maximums in going to his half-century off 32 balls, but once he was out, contriving to steer Pattinson's worst delivery of the night into the hands of extra cover, the innings petered out. Pattinson's return of 5-25 was Nottinghamshire's best in the competition. On Sunday they hit their highest total in domestic t20. Perhaps coach Mick Newell should encourage them to approach all their cricket in the same way.