Sunday 16 July 2017

Lancashire v Derbyshire T20

Derbyshire 152-8 (Madsen 52, Critchley 40, Reece 37)

Lancashire 155-5 (Buttler 42 not)

Lancashire won by 5 wickets

At the halfway point of this game, a friend  texted me and asked what I thought of the Derbyshire score.

'About 20 runs short' was my concise reply and I don't think that I was too far wide of the mark in that assertion. Apart from a brief wobble when they were 56-3, there wasn't a point at which I thought we could claw this back, as we did at Chesterfield last weekend.

For us to do so, we needed a similarly tight bowling Power play and, after Matt Henry went for 17 in his first over, that theory was consigned to the waste bin. It was a game to forget for the Kiwi, his two overs going for 29 on a surface where most bowlers fancied at least keeping it tight. As his stronger suit, we really need him to do better than in this game, because there are several other seamers on the staff who can go for less than fifteen an over.

Batting first on a slow track made sense, as it was only going to get slower, but to win such games you need to get a total on the board and then bowl well across the unit. We didn't do either today, so, in a nutshell, deserved to lose.

The experiment with Matt Critchley opening worked, and despite the early loss of Billy Godleman (you know my thoughts there) we recovered well, first with Luis Reece and then Wayne Madsen. Critchley's strike rate was at odds with most others in the game, but when he went, Reece was perhaps a little slow. If a batsman is going to score at less than a strike rate of a hundred, he needs to bat through and let others hit around him. In getting out when he did, Luis rather fell between two stools. A steady innings, much like his bowling later, but not quite enough on the day.

At 111-2 in 14 overs, we should have been looking at the 170-180 I mentioned earlier. Instead, only 41 came from the last six and batsmen came and went with undue haste as the wheels on the bus, instead of going round and round, fell off with a clatter.

Full credit to Lancashire, who bowled tight to keep us to a run a ball in that period, but after Madsen's dismissal for a fluent 52, it was largely an example of binary batting, that was reminiscent of too many bad days past.

The ten an over start given to Lancashire by Livingstone and Brown put things into perspective, and although Imran Tahir got another two wickets and most of those who were tried did well, the four overs bowled by Henry, Qadri and Critchley went for 54, and so did the game.

No complaints regarding Qadri, whose T20 debut saw him bowl at one of the world's most destructive batsmen in Joss Buttler, but one would expect better from a specialist overseas bowler than to only bowl two of his allocation. He will, I think come back stronger but needs to, as one of the key men in the side.

It is not a night for weeping, wailing and gnashing teeth, since it is our first defeat in the competition, but it is one where the players will doubtless look at areas where they could and should have done better.

There were too many of those for another mark in the 'win' column tonight.

And doubtless things for John Wright to talk about in the nets tomorrow.

9 comments:

  1. A brief point that may be missed by those not attending: Reece bowled spin today!

    Luke

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  2. Feeble effort that by Derbyshire, all the old batting frailties are still evident. Godleman just isn't up to the T20 format and should be dropped for Worcester. Henry, well the less said the better about his performance, shocking. Must win against Worcester, no excuses.

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  3. Tim, Chesterfield16 July 2017 at 20:39

    I think that's the one only time Bet365 get stung offering Matt Critchley at 50/1 to be top scorer in the Derbyshire innings. Silly price anyway but with the hunch he would open and realising they offered in play betting as soon as it started the 'cash out' was six times the stake and went on to rise! Shame Madsen pipped him in the end as the win would have been a chunk more.

    The game seemed to go as predicted. I think New Road will be more conducive to us on Wednesday.

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  4. Hi PF. JOHN from Derby here. Saw this one coming I'm afraid. As soon as I saw the Team sheet.
    With slow wickets we need Batsman who can hit the new ball in the Power play. I love Billy to bits but he's not the man for this format I'm afraid. Neither is Slater . Reece is worth perciveering with even though he struggled today. Got to be Critchley and Wood up top for me. Both can go hard from Ball one which is what we have lacked in all the games so far. We got away with slowish starts twice but that can't last forever. As far as the bowling goes Quadri was a wasted pick. Asking a young lad to perform at that level is too big an ask and a totally unnecessary risk. We have 4 spin options in the team already if you count Reece. Henry as also got to come to the party with the ball . 2 overs from your overseas at 15s is not acceptable. Lots to work on before wednesdays trip to Worcester. I just hope Mr Wright is strong enough to make some tough calls. Let's hope for a better showing on Wednesday

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  5. Not awful and competitive today however most have us have identified the issues. 11-1 off 3 overs put us right up against it. There is a vacancy opening the batting that needs to be filled. Yes Henry has to offer more with the ball. I felt 165 would make it really tough for them and so it would have proved. The last 6 produced 41 runs for us but it was the first 3 or 4 that really hurt us.

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  6. No need to panic just yet. Yes, today was a setback, but there were also some positives. Namely Matt Critchley, Madders and Imran Tahir.
    We definitely need much, much more from Henry. Let's hope a change of fortune is just around the corner for him.
    David W

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  7. Last couple of comments haven't been published so hopefully this will. Some cause for optimism but Junaid Khan is an exceptionally good death bowler. Contrast that with Henry's performance - when we needed a tight start - and that could well have been the difference. Hopefully our Kiwi coach is the best person to extract the best from our Kiwi bowler.

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    Replies
    1. Sorry StoneRose I havent had previous comments from you. Apologies but no idea where they went...

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  8. Paul Fitzpatrick17 July 2017 at 15:20

    Need to address the top order
    All 3 games , slow start
    Hence the "power play" title

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