Riki Wessels, alongside former England player Michael Lumb, hammered 146 in a record List A stand of 342 in the Royal London One-Day Cup.
Lumb, who was born in Johannesburg and has three ODI caps for England, contributed 176 to that effort, and went on to 184 as Nottinghamshire amassed 445-5 in their 50 overs.
Almost unbelievably, Rory Kleinveldt capped a determined fightback with a rugged 128 off 63 balls, with 10 fours and nine sixes as Northants fell short by just 20 runs. Even more remarkable was the fact that Kleinveldt was suffering from a calf injury which forced him to use a runner, which may explain the fact that boundaries were the easiest option.
They may even have pulled it off had Richard Levi not had a shoulder injury and constrained to bat at No 11, from where he contributed just 7.
Kleinveldt picked up the gauntlet after opener Adam Rossington started the chase with 97 off 69 balls. Kleinveldt, too, was the most conservative of the Northants bowlers, taking 1-69 off nine overs at 7.5.
The stand by Lumb and Wessels, son of former Proteas captain Kepler, beat the previous record in England: 318 amassed by Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly against Sri Lanka in Taunton in 1999.
‘It was one of those days when you walk out there and the stars are all aligned and you have a day out,’ said Lumb. ‘All we were trying to do was get the team off to a good start, and we kept on going and going.’
Elsewhere, Jacques Rudolph at last found some runs, albeit with difficulty as he accumulated 53 from 81, with just two fours against Gareth Roderick‘s Gloucestershire. The Glamorgan captain, who has struggled for runs this season, helped Will Bragg (75) lay a solid foundation for a winning total of 289. Colin Ingram contributed a more lively 35 off 28 and then took 2-12 off five to help bowl out Glos for 237.
It was Gloucestershire’s second One-Day game in as many days. In the first match, Johann Myburgh, who has been languishing in the Somerset Second XI over the past few matches, took advantage of a rare promotion to run up 81 and help his team to a one-wicket win.
It was a close-run thing though, and it took a 65-run last-wicket stand between former Maritzburger Tim Groenewald (34) and Jamie Overton (40) to take them over the line.
Earlier Roelof van der Merwe had been hyperactive in restricting Glos to 260, taking 3-51, as well as three catches and assisting in a run-out.
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