Northamptonshire 342 and 122 (Palladino 4-33)
Derbyshire 145 and 155-5 (Lace 32*)
Derbyshire need 164 runs to win
At the end of a second day that one could almost understate as being eventful, I feel that I can say, with some justification, that this was a good toss to win.
A fourth innings run chase of 319 would appear to be very unrealistic. It would be the highest chase ever at Chesterfield and our fifth highest in 149 years. There has been considerable help for the bowlers and that is unlikely to change in the near future.
Having said that, scoring runs is not impossible, as evidenced by Fynn Hudson-Prentice, whose gutsy half century yesterday morning at least gave our first innings a semblance of respectability.
Much as was the case with Leus du Plooy recently, I think that he is batting too low. For me, having scored 99 batting at 3, he should come in at 6, ahead of Harvey Hosein and Matt Critchley.
He was the only one to come to terms with the wicket yesterday morning, but credit is again due to Derbyshire for the way in which they fought back in the afternoon. Tony Palladino led the way, while Fynn also chipped in with a couple of wickets.
Northamptonshire, with a lead of 196 runs, were bowled out for 122, leaving a victory target of 319.
Billy Godleman set out as if it were a rehearsal for The Hundred and all of the batsmen played aggressively. There was no real alternative on a wicket offering movement, variable bounce and spin. We had reached 155-5 by the close, with a further 164 required.
Were we to get there it would go down one of our greatest ever wins, but someone has to produce the extraordinary for it to happen.
Tom Lace has batted well, and there is the talent at the crease and to come to get us close. But it is a huge ask and the thinking money must surely be on an away win.
If I am wrong, I will be reporting on something very special tonight.
Agree re H-P he should be up the order. It's almost at the point where there are too many batsman vying for the top six. It should be a good position to be in but not on the basis of yesterday. In the first hour or so batting wasn't easy and Sanderson and Hutton bowled really well. H-P showed a really good repertoire of strokes and had clearly decided to take the attack to Northants. Palladino's wicket before lunch was disappointing as he had looked quite comfortable. Northants will have been disappointed with their effort - I'm sure they will have been expecting to still have been batting by the end of the day.
ReplyDeleteCan only say the Derbyshire response was reckless unless they had taken the view that to score quickly was the only approach. It was working when Reece and Madsen were together but losing them both was a big blow. Du plooy's shot just wasn't necessary with a few overs before the close and with he and Lace together there was a chance.
So - 164 off 192 overs seems a decent equation but unless our younger batsmen and stay in until after lunch.....
During the last Members'Meeting, Dave Houghton was asked why du Plooy was batting at 8. He said it was because he wanted to gradually introduce him into the team, rather than heaping pressure on him by throwing him in at 4 or 5. This struck me as very sensible. I'm sure he is doing the same thing with F H-P. It was a shame yesterday that he ran out of partners when playing so well. Tony Palladino's dismissal was very disappointing, as was Ravi Rampaul's shot. Surely he would have been better just trying to block the spinner and let F H-P swing the bat. Sanderson was just too good on that surface, and it is a great shame that the game will only last two-and-a-bit days.
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