Tuesday 17 September 2019

Derbyshire v Sussex day 2

Derbyshire 138 and 360-2 (Reece 184, Godleman 106*, Madsen 42)

Sussex 233 (van Zyl 60, Garton 50, Reece 5-63, Hudson-Prentice 3-47)

Derbyshire lead by 265 runs


Today was my last day of 'live' cricket this summer. Fittingly it dawned sunny, if not especially warm and there was a decent crowd of seasoned regulars in attendance, together with some loyal support from the south coast.

It all kicked off early when play began, with Rawlins, who looks like a player who will never die wondering, played a couple of streaky shots for four, then holed out to Melton at wide mid on. Next ball, Brown gave a routine catch to Hosein, and a healthy overnight position was in danger of evaporating.

Luis Reece took both wickets, the second his fiftieth of an excellent summer. Whether he can sustain the workload of being a senior seamer as well as opening bat is debatable, but his importance to this side is undeniable, and was emphasised later. When he followed it with the wicket of van Zyl, who had led a charmed life yesterday, Sussex were in trouble.

Wiese, as he has done so many times, hinted at a recovery with some powerful strokes through the covers, but Hudson-Prentice worked up good pace from the Racecourse End and, beating him for pace, had him caught by McKiernan at long leg. He also had Jordan caught behind in a lively spell, which only ended with the advent of spin at both ends, one assumes to improve the slow over rate. It served to increase the run rate too, as Garton and Robinson clumped away in bucolic fashion.

A merry stand of 33 ended when Robinson assayed a reverse sweep to a straight ball from Madsen, missed and was palpably leg before. The umpire took a long time over what appeared a straightforward decision from behind the bowler's arm on the boundary, but the finger was eventually raised to local satisfaction. Garton continued on his merry way to an excellent fifty, before holing out from an uppercut at third man, a second catch for McKiernan, a first wicket for Melton, a 93-run lead for Sussex.

The feeling at the lunch interval, certainly among the travelling support, was that the lead would be match-defining. Instead, the afternoon and early evening became a masterclass from Luis Reece. He followed on his five wickets and the award of his county cap with a magnificent innings of 184 from 189 deliveries. His batting form has been patchy this summer, mainly on account of his bowling workload, but here he was superb, strong on the drive and pull, excelling on the sweep. His timing was exquisite throughout as good a knock as you would wish to see and he is quite a cricketer, one we are lucky to have.

Only Garnet Lee, in 1926, has previously scored 150 runs and taken five wickets in an innings for Derbyshire in the same match. That puts Reece's feat into context and I doubt Garnet scored a century in a session in doing so, as Luis did here between lunch and tea.

At the other end Billy Godleman eased past a thousand runs for the summer in first-class cricket and two thousand in total, annus mirabilis indeed. The two innings were great contrasts, Billy happy to knock it around in true Godlemanian fashion, but the partnership of 274 was the county highest for any wicket against Sussex. Thanks to club historian David Griffin for the statistics.

Godleman moved to yet another century, his sixteenth in first-class cricket for Derbyshire, but lost Madsen after an attractive 42, caught off a lifter from Reece Topley. He and Dal then saw it through to the close, which was reached, after all that had preceded it, at an extraordinary 360-2.

A special way to end a summer's live cricket watching indeed.

Postscript: it was a pleasure to meet so many lovely people around the ground over the past two days. Some for the first time, others once more. It was a thrill to do so and to hear your kind words.

Winter well, and I hope to see you again when it starts once more next Spring.

4 comments:

  1. Probably as good a day's cricket as I've seen from Derbyshire ecently. Sussex left the door open through their reckless batting, but Luis Reece and Godleman charged through it, taking half the wall with them. Reece's innings was simply superb, and for its silky power, economy and simplicity, ranks alongside any innings I've seen from a Derbyshire player. It's the simplicity when he's batting at his best that really impresses me, as there's so little in his play that looks capable of going wrong. Godleman played superbly as well, focussing for much of his time in getting singles to get as much of the strike as possible to Reece. This led to Reece's downfall, which looked like just about the only thing that could stop him.

    Plenty of time and wickets to add more tomorrow, although you'd expect a freshened Sussex attack with a new ball only 6 overs away on an early morning pitch to ask more questions than they did today. Even so, a target of 350 should be a formality and 400 plus readily achievable. Palladino left the field after a few overs so may be a doubt for the second innings, in which case our bowling resources are going to be very stretched in a long run chase. Still, what a day, but how can our batting be so ramshackle one day and clinically excellent the next?

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  2. Firstly, thank you Peakfan for maintaining such a superb blog throughout the season. It has enriched my enjoyment of the season, a season which, come Saturday evening, could yet prove a wonderful one.
    And what an innings to witness at the last home match of the season. I've watched a lot of cricket and I can't think of many better. The situation was fraught and Sussex possess a strong attack, with experience, pace and skill, yet Luis Reece was truly imperious. His straight driving was superb, and a square cut, rocking back, off Wiese will live long in the memory. It was a brilliant innings.

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  3. Thank you Sean. I really appreciate your kind words.

    And it was a special innings!

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  4. What a turnaround. I felt at lunchtime that the innings by Garton could be an important one and I couldn't understand some of the field placings which gave away runs. If we are nervous about Reece's workload, well maybe we shouldn't be - what an innings and well played to by Godleman who seemed happy to act as the foil. Some of the boundaries were sublime. Looking forward to my last day at Derby this season, tomorrow.

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