The former England bowler Darren Pattinson tempted the Worcestershire opener Moeen Ali to slice a catch to point. Photograph: Julian Herbert/Getty ImagesNottinghamshire have been unbeaten at home in this competition this season and in maintaining that record against Worcestershire they confirmed they would finish top of the North Group while ensuring they would be joined in the quarter-finals by Durham.
Worcestershire needed to win to pip Durham for fourth place. The Royals must have thought they were in with a good chance of upsetting the odds when for once the Nottinghamshire top order did not produce. Tamim Iqbal top-edged a slog sweep at Jack Shantry to midwicket without scoring, the prolific Alex Hales chipped Shantry's slower ball gently into the hands of mid-on and Samit Patel guided another Shantry delivery straight to a widish slip.
A score of 44 for 3 after the opening power play was not what a crowd of around 7,000 had hoped for but the captain Adam Voges and Rikki Wessels put together a partnership of 63 for the fourth wicket, Voges hitting eight fours in bringing up his half-century off 33 balls before thick edging a Gareth Andrew delivery to point.
Wessels pulled Shakib al-Hassan into the hands of deep midwicket for 33 but Shantry's dropping of Steven Mullaney off Saeed Ajmal – using one hand when it looked as though he might have got both to the ball – allowed Mullaney and Chris Read to build another 50 partnership. The pair took 17 off Shantry's last over before Read sliced Andrew to Alex Kervezee on the point boundary.
Like their opponents, Worcestershire lost wickets early. Both Vikram Solanki, caught at short fine leg having hit a pull of Luke Fletcher cleanly, and Kervezee, caught down the legside off Darren Pattinson by the diving wicketkeeper Read, could consider themselves unlucky, while Shakib had just hit Fletcher for consecutive sixes over point when he spooned the next delivery high to mid-on.
James Cameron went quickly but with 41 off 30 balls Moeen Ali was looking dangerous until Voges brought back Pattinson, who induced the opener to slice a catch to point. Pattinson was Nottinghamshire's leading wicket-taker in the competition last season with 20 and his three wickets mean the former roofer with a single Test cap for England has already passed that figure, with 22. Daryl Mitchell and Andrew kept Worcestershire in touch but the pressure was too much.
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