Worcestershire 368 (Conners 5-109, Sidebottom 3-76)
Derbyshire 274-4 (Masood 113, Guest 77, Du Plooy 23*, Reece 20*)
Derbyshire trail by 94 runs
Last night we were all hoping that we could keep Worcestershire under 450 in their first innings. As it was, they struggled to get over 350, as an early morning Sam Conners burst removed three wickets in two overs.
They added only 42 runs for those last five wickets, Conners finishing with five for the second time in his career, while Ryan Sidebottom reinforced the positive impression he has made with another three.
The main concern was when Sidebottom limped off, midway through an over. We await news on the seriousness of his injury, which with the T20 around the corner we hope isn't too bad.
Derbyshire's openers survived until lunch and took their stand to 49 before Godleman played on. He was just starting to look in decent touch and his dismissal was a disappointment, but it heralded a partnership between lunch and tea which was as good as you could wish for.
Shan Masood progressed to another sublime century, while Brooke Guest scored 77. They added 158 together in 31 overs, the only tactic to slow them being to bowl short, with sweepers out on the fence limiting them to singles or well-judged twos.
Masood's placement is so good that otherwise he would have raced past 150. Their running was excellent and for the second day in succession no wicket fell between lunch and tea.
Also for he second day running, three fell in the evening session. Masood also seemed to play on, before Guest played a little loosely and edged behind. Both had batted beautifully and although Madsen failed for once, his average now down to a 'piffling' 86, du Plooy and Reece batted with common sense until the close, when we ended 94 runs behind.
The game? Well, it is wide open. Worcestershire will hope to do to us tomorrow morning what we did to them, while Derbyshire have two fine players at the crease and more to come.
At the rate we have scored thus far, by lunch we should be pretty much level if still batting and the game would again be set up for any result being possible. There is no immediate need to score quickly, but if we can bat until tea we will be in a strong position.
A few stats to close: Guest is only 80 runs short of his tally for last season, while Madsen is only 150 runs away. Both have been in the most wonderful touch thus far.
Meanwhile Masood the Magnificent has 826 runs in seven innings. Think about that and enjoy every minute. 826 runs in SEVEN innings.
We may never see its like again.
What a difference a day makes?
What a difference a year makes..
New ball due tomorrow after 5 overs so match well balanced. Sidebottom went off injured I believe.
ReplyDeleteYes he did, Simon. I have corrected the typo now!
DeleteSplendid. The bowlers did their job, and Guest
ReplyDelete's confidence and value to the side is growing with every innings. Godleman's time will come. Thanks for the report PF, with the right balance between objectivity and enthusiasm, as ever.
Is Masood real?
ReplyDeleteRemarkable player. If Pakistan don't want him after this, we'll take him as overseas for two or three years, eh?
DeleteLooking at scores from around the country it looks like most pitches are being prepared with white ball game in mind (possible ECB directive) with the prospect of high scores in that format although not ideal for the red ball game. I fear what the pitches will be like around the country come the September round of red ball fixtures when the life has drained from them after a seasons wear and tear.
ReplyDeleteRegarding Shan Masood is there any prospect of a Hundred call up as I vaguely remember some sides/franchises/teams (whatever they are called this week) were short of overseas players or do we have him on a contract without any release clause ?
Whatever happens with him getting a Pakistan recall I'm guessing he is nailed on being in the squad at least the next time they tour England.
last year, first ten innings only 2 scores above 300 and 4 below 200. Average per wicket 26
ReplyDeleteThis year so far only one score below 300 (and that was for 5 wickets down) Average per wicket 50
chalk and cheese
Shan is just a ridiculously talented batsman, he's too good for division 2 and that's a fact. Still think this has a draw written all over it, unless we start to score heavily tomorrow and get a healthy lead. Still, unbeaten after five games would represent a huge improvement in Derbyshire's fortune
ReplyDeleteMasood looks a top talent, but the thing is averages across the country are crazy...(apart from at Essex where we are terrible!) the ECB are making groundsmen produce dead roads so we cannot really judge how well batsmen are doing as everyone is at it! Makes for awful cricket. How about proper cricket wickets that have a balance between bat and ball. This will kill the 4 day game as a spectator sport.
ReplyDeleteToday's scores are a joke in most matches across both divisions.
Essex Fan
Yes- Lancs 566-9 was the lowest first innings of the match in any of the 4 Div One games which says it all.
DeleteIt's like the powers that be are embarrassed by the likes of a Darren Stevens still taking wickets. But the outcome will be is come September quick bowlers will be shattered & injured and batters will only be able to play on flat wickets. They will go abroad and play on a bowler friendly wickets and just be rolled over.
DeleteIf Shan Masood continues to play like this, he's going to be better than Don Bradman!
ReplyDeleteStuart Falcon