Derbyshire 142-6 (Durston 50, Slater 40)
No doubt about it, that was a very good day for Derbyshire today.
It could have been better, had we held all of our chances and Glamorgan might then not have made a hundred. Yet it is churlish to be overly critical on a day that we have ended four runs ahead with four wickets in hand.
A green track was always likely to make it a good toss to win and, in contrast to the early part of the summer when a few of these went against us, Wayne Madsen won this one and must have enjoyed watching his seam bowlers make excellent use of the conditions.
Irrespective of the help being offered by any wicket, you need to put the ball in the right areas to succeed and our seam quartet did that admirably. Tony Palladino once again returned remarkably parsimonious figures in the finest county tradition and appears not to have been flattered by 14-6-14-3. If Les and Cliff were keeping a wary eye on events today, they'd have nodded approvingly at such excellent bowling.
There was good support from Mark Footitt with two wickets, but the star turn with the ball, at least in so far as wickets are concerned, was Alex Hughes (pictured). 4-46 from twelve overs wasn't the most economical bowling of the day, but he came on, bowled a line and ended up with career-best figures that were well deserved.
With James Harris and Michael Hogan in the opposition, we were unlikely to find batting much easier, but Ben Slater reinforced his positive impression of recent weeks and Wes blazed a typically vibrant fifty. Though the ever-dangerous Hogan got Slater and Tom Taylor in consecutive balls before the close, we ended up four runs ahead with justifiable hopes of extending that tomorrow.
We really need that tail to wag and if we can get upwards of fifty of a lead it will be more than useful in a game that already seems sure to produce a positive result. There's enough batting to come to ensure that we forge on tomorrow, 200 being the first target.
In closing tonight, it is worth mentioning that in a season that has not been one of the better ones in living memory, we have seen plenty of young players make sizeable strides forward. Slater, Hughes, Taylor, Cork, Knight, Hosein, Cotton - that's quite an impressive list.
I'd also suggest that both Tony Palladino and Mark Footitt are improved, especially in their lines and length, both much more economical than has been the case in the past, without loss of potency in either case.
While there have been plenty of comments about the cricket played this year, credit has to be given where its due and, even in such a short time that they have been in post, the coaches are showing improvements in their charges.
Give them a winter to work on the younger ones, add in the new players we seek and...who knows?
Postscript - congratulations to Gareth Cross on his 200th first-class victim behind the stumps. A telling time to make a serious contribution with the bat, eh?
I don,t think there is much room for complaint when bowling your opponents out for such a low score. It was a good effort all round with Palladino and Hughes the best of a good bunch. Thinking more towards the Glamorgan second innings,I wonder if we may have been better served by playing an additional seamer. I don,t see this wicket as one that will suit Wainwright in the slightest and the decision to insert Glamorgan goes some way to proving it.
ReplyDeleteWe have a very slender lead and the obvious fear is we could be rolled for not much more than we have now,which is well short of requirements. The remaining batsmen have to try and get us up to around 200 and put some pressure back on Glamorgan.
It sounds like we dropped a few catches which is disappointing. I don,t normally mention such things as they happen in most games,but in a tight match they can make all the difference. Tomorrow will be interesting and if we have the better of the day,our thoughts may be turning towards winning. We shall see.
The 3 late wickets have hurt us but the Durston wicket because he has been in good form and can take the game away from the opposition.
ReplyDeleteHopefully the tail can get some more important runs, the morning session is very crucial to determine whether we get into a strong position.
Harry
If it's going to be a low scoring game then a lead of 50 or so could be crucial. We have to be pleased with the way the majority of the day went.
ReplyDeleteAny danger of a points deduction for poor pitch, Peakfan?
ReplyDeleteNone at all mate. Tony Pigott was along on day one and it was good swing bowling that got wickets. Considering the ground was under water on Saturday after a flash flood they did very well to get it fit.
ReplyDelete