2021 County Championship – Nottinghamshire vs Worcestershire Preview & Prediction
THE FACTS
When is Nottinghamshire vs Worcestershire taking place? Thursday 20th May, 2021 – 11:00 (UK)
Where is Nottinghamshire vs Worcestershire taking place? Trent Bridge, Nottingham
What is the expected weather for Nottinghamshire vs Worcestershire? Heavy rain is expected on day one with showers also likely across the weekend
Where can I get tickets for Nottinghamshire vs Worcestershire? The County Championship will initially be played without spectators but it is worth checking each county’s official website for updates
What channel is Nottinghamshire vs Worcestershire on? This match will not be televised live in the UK
Where can I stream Nottinghamshire vs Worcestershire? Matches can be streamed live on the official websites of the First-Class Counties
THE PREDICTION
Nottinghamshire’s victory away to Derbyshire at the beginning of the month ended a run of nearly three years without a County Championship/Bob Willis Trophy win. They backed that up with an impressive victory by an innings and 30 runs against Essex; a side that have competed for or won the first-class title since 2017. Despite being led by the recovering Haseeb Hameed, who is averaging 56 this season, Notts are yet to score big with no score of over 323 and five innings being bowled out for less than 300. A top-order of Hameed, Slater, Duckett and Clarke was always expected to come good and the only surprise is that it has taken so long. Given that top-order and the form of veteran Luke Fletcher as well as Stuart Broad and Dane Paterson gives the home team the look of a very strong side.
Their opponents this weekend finally ended their constantly drawing start to the season by losing to Durham last week. That 258-run loss ended a run of five consecutive draws to start the Pears’ first-class campaign. Their bowling has been consistently impotent throughout and those draws have been built, in part, on an inability to make early and regular incisions into the opponents’ batting lineup. A positive has been the ability to score big runs with Jake Libby at the top-of-the-order being very impressive throughout the season.
Worcestershire are heading to Trent Bridge as the underdogs with the often overused and misunderstood term of “momentum” weighing against them as they come up against a side who have played well throughout the season and are now finally winning again. Notts are the favourites for this one.
