Alex Hales’s 58 (41b) and Joe Root’s 34*(26b) combined with a fine three-fer from Daniel Sams got Trent Rockets off to a winning start this season. In their six-wicket win in Nottingham, the hosts chased Birmingham Phoenix’s 143 with three balls to spare.
Hales scored 5 fours and 2 sixes on what he reckoned as a “tricky, slow” surface, and his innings at the top was crucial to his side’s chances. He first added 52 for the second wicket with Colin Munro (36) and then 79 for the third wicket with Root. He ultimately fell off the 92nd ball, caught and bowled by Tom Helm, but the Rockets were fairly in control by then. Root only hit one boundary and one six but got his 34 runs off 26 balls, nicely maneuvering the field around to pick ones and twos.
Earlier, it was Daniel Sams (3 for 24) who helped keep the Phoenix to a par score. He first made an impact up top with the wicket of Will Smeed and then put on a show towards the end, helping his side close out the innings well. Key to that effort was how he bowled to Liam Livingstone, slow and wide outside off before eventually getting his number. Only nine runs came off the last ten balls and included Sams’s strike of Livingstone, who finished on 47 off 28 and seemed to have been going quite well until that point. He was particularly punishing against Rashid Khan’s bowling, hitting four of his five sixes against the legspinner.
Source By – Cricbuzz
 and Joe Root's 34*(26b) combined with a fine three-fer from Daniel Sams got Trent Rockets off to a winning start this season.){kind=link}