NOT content with winning a Test match the day before, Michael Atherton drew on his near limitless powers of endurance and concentration to usher Lancashire to the NatWest semi-finals. This time his 130-ball 76 did win him the man-of-the-match award, though Glenn Chapple's fine second spell ensured Lancashire would chase much less than appeared likely.
In that quietly elegant way of his, Atherton constructed an innings of skill and authority, notable for its defence, particularly against the new ball when Kevin Evans bowled well, beating him several times.
As at Trent Bridge, there was never much sign of error from Atherton, and his only misjudgment came when he padded up to a googly from Paul Strang, Notts' best bowler. The sole moment of true alarm for Atherton was when Andrew Flintoff nearly decapitated him at the non-striker's end with a drive.
Atherton and Mark Chilton put the issue virtually beyond doubt with an opening stand of 96 in 26 overs. Chilton, still at Durham University, was deputising for the injured Neil Fairbrother and played some fine cuts and pulls even if he did not look like a opener.
There were several strokes to savour, including an enormous straight blow out of the ground off Bates from Flintoff. As the light got quite poor, Graham Lloyd and Wasim Akram swung lustily and intelligently, sweeping Lancashire home with 13 balls to spare after a mighty six from Wasim brought victory. Their batting time was reduced to 58 overs because of their slow over-rate.
Notts, put in under clouds that stayed low all day, were forced to bat with due care and attention for longer than they would have wished. Wasim and Peter Martin both obtained early morning movement and gave little away, but it was not until the 17th over that a breakthrough was made when Chapple got some late in- swing to bowl Usman Afzaal.
On his first return to Old Trafford since leaving Lancashire, Jason Gallian played a neatly crafted innings devoid of showy party tricks or muscular blows. He hit only three fours in his 123-ball stay, all of them before he reached fifty.
That statistic shows how tightly Lancashire bowled to him, though with a pitch right in the middle of the square, all the boundaries were playing long. That meant there were plenty of twos, and Gallian, running astutely, laid a good platform with Matt Dowman, the two putting on 100 in 22 overs.
Dowman's dismissal to a fine catch at backward point by Chilton was the turning point in Notts' innings. From then on, no pair managed to stay together for longer than four overs, and without a lasting partnership, Notts stuttered along. Only 100 came off the last 20 overs despite the fact that eight wickets were in hand at the start of them.
Chapple should take a lot of credit for that. He found extra bounce to have the dangerous Paul Johnson caught behind cutting, and then produced a good one to find Graeme Archer's edge. Chris Tolley drove to extra cover before Gallian, in the 53rd over, was wonderfully caught at backward point by Chilton, who somehow clung on to a low cut.