Alex Hales' One-Day Cup century 'one of the best', says Nasser Hussain
Saturday 1 July 2017 20:22, UK
Alex Hales’ match-winning 187 not out in the One-Day Cup Final is one of the best domestic innings ever played, says Nasser Hussain.
England opener Hales smashed the highest one-day score at Lord's as Nottinghamshire trumped Surrey's total of 297 in the 48th over.
Hales completed the biggest individual total in a Lord's final when he overhauled Geoffrey Boycott's 146 for Yorkshire against Surrey in 1965.
The right-hander then bested David Boon's one-day record at HQ when he passed 166 in a 167-ball innings which featured 20 fours and four sixes.
"In domestic cricket I think that's the best any of us have seen," Hussain told Sky Sports. "We know Alex has ability but he showed that he can play two ways.
"There was the attacking carefree attitude up front and then he went into different gears when Notts lost wickets.
"Yes, he was dropped on nine [by Surrey's Ollie Pope] but after that it was a faultless display. He is an incredible talent."
Hales' coach at Nottinghamshire, Peter Moores, was equally effusive in his praise of Hales, who scored almost 63 per cent of the Outlaws' runs.
"I thought it was one of the best one-day knocks I have ever seen - he got two-thirds of the runs and stayed not out," added the former England chief.
"He started like a train - I think he had 100 before we had 30 runs from the other end - and he kept us in the game. It was a knock of absolute brilliance."
Surrey opener Mark Stoneman responded to being overlooked for an England Test spot against South Africa by scoring an unbeaten 144 off 149 balls.
But Hales' exceptional display consigned Surrey to a third consecutive One-Day Cup final defeat after losses to Gloucestershire in 2015 and Warwickshire last year.
"Last year I was up on the stage with [Surrey captain] Gareth Batty and he was absolutely spitting that they had lost a game they should have won," added Hussain.
"Today [Saturday] they lost a game because someone was better than them.
"I thought, looking at Notts and how they chased down 371 in the semi-final, that it was dangerous to bat at 10.30am this morning but that was not while they lost."
