Given the state of the game, the season, the pitch and the weather I would be very surprised and bitterly disappointed if Derbyshire lost this game in the next two days.
There appears little wrong with the wicket, considering how Yorkshire progressed serenely to 400-5 before losing five wickets in 3 madcap overs. I did wonder, considering their need to win the match, just why they batted on after making the maximum batting points, but I guess they expected to slog along to 450 quickly and then hope to bowl out Derbyshire twice in the time remaining. We could have done without losing the skipper to the last ball of the day, but one would hope that will not count for too much in the grand scheme of things.
Derbyshire stuck to their task well on what appears a fairly blameless pitch at this stage and one of the innings curios was that there were no byes nor no balls in the innings, highlighting a bowling effort of some considerable discipline and good work by the returning Tom Poynton.
Another was that in an innings lasting two balls shy of 114 overs, seven of the wickets were taken by two men, Wes Durston and Ross Whiteley, who bowled only eighteen between them. I can understand Wayne Madsen not overbowling Whiteley as he returns from injury, but feel that on occasions he could use Durston more than he does. As I have written before, he has an impressive habit of taking wickets quickly in a new spell, as he did twice today. With David Wainwright not 100% with a shoulder injury, Durston could and perhaps should have bowled more than 8.4 overs for remarkable, career-best figures of 5-34. The end of the innings may have suggested to some that the wicket had started to turn, but given Yorkshire didn't bowl a spinner before the close it is more likely that it was a series of poor shots
The weather forecast for Leeds tomorrow suggests little cricket will be played and while Yorkshire will probably end the game having harvested more bonus points than us, by the end of it they will have only three games remaining while we will still have four and a sizeable lead.
Things are also looking favourable elsewhere from a results perspective, with Kent barely on the field in the first two days and Hampshire not too far on in their game against Northamptonshire.
Derbyshire? When we next get on the pitch we need to bat and bat, that's all. No daft shots, just more of the self-discipline that was shown in the second innings against Kent and we'll be fine.
Just as long as we're not down to Redfern and Groenewald in the second innings when time is called...
Back online (I think!) after a simple computer repair turned into a 5 day marathon.
ReplyDeleteIt,s just as well we don,t really need to win this match as much as Yorkshire do. It,s also just as well the weather keeps lending us a helping hand,both in terms of our own games and our closest rivals.
We,ve made a bit of a cock-up of this game,starting with the toss. I don,t understand why we chose to field. Unless there is compelling evidence for bowling first,you are simply asking to spend the match on the back foot. By chosing to field,it is essential the opposition is bowled out for well under 300. It now seems fairly obvious the wicket was completely misread and not for the first time this season. The decision has given Yorkshire the upper hand and more importantly,cost us valuable bonus points.
I agree entirely that Durston was seriously under utilised and,once again,not for the first time this season. If Wainwright isn,t fully fit then he shouldn,t be playing. His figures did little to suggest his inclusion was a wise choice in any event,whether injury is the excuse or not. For me,we simply didn,t utilise the bowlers to our best advantage. A mistake we paid a high price for.
The loss of time on day one and the likelyhood of a blank day today will ensure we wont end up losing,but that,s far more down to luck than judgement. The best we can hope for now is accumulate some batting points and make the best of what has been something of a bad job. Not one of the skippers better games i,m afraid.