Derbyshire 174-5 (Madsen 71*, Wood 39, Ali 32, Maxwell 2-19)
Birmingham 157-9 (Mousley 36, Maxwell 29, Chappell 3-32, Khan 3-34)
Derbyshire won by 17 runs
It was a first defeat for the visitors, who looked to have a strong eleven, but on the night they were no match for the home side.
It wasn't an easy wicket to bat on, as evidenced by Derbyshire's slow progress on losing the toss and being asked to bat. Most of the batters struggled with their timing, although Ali worked his way to his best score in the tournament so far. Yet it was a stand of 79 in just 6 overs between Wayne Madsen and Tom Wood that turned the game.
Madsen made a fifth successive score in excess of 50 and is having an astonishing tournament. It is a concern that he had to go off injured later and it is to be hoped it is not too serious. He was once again imperious tonight, although the track legislated against his innings being as fluent as last night.
At the other end Wood bludgeoned his way to 39 from just 19 balls, showing in the process that he should be an early name on the teamsheet in this format. The stand gave Derbyshire an impetus that they didn't relinquish for the rest of the game.
The bowling was excellent. Watt, with his injured knee strapped, set the tone and Khan was again fast and awkward. Chappell kept chipping in with wickets and McKiernan bowled a very canny spell with just the one wicket, but that the crucial one of Glenn Maxwell, who looked dangerous in his short stay. Mousley briefly threatened but didn't score quickly enough to cause genuine concern.
Scrimshaw bowled a very intelligent spell, mixing slower balls with his trademark 'fast and nasties' to fox the visiting batters, while they were all backed up in the field with sound catching and generally smart ground fielding.
When if came down to 48 from the last four overs I could see no way back for Birmingham, as Khan bowled quickly. It appears that Ali works as interpreter for him on the pitch, but the Pakistan quick again confirmed his reputation as an excellent death bowler. He ended the innings by bowling Lintott with his final delivery, by which time the game was well won.
In a bizarre group, this second win puts Derbyshire just outside the promotion places. Nottinghamshire were hammered by Worcestershire, while Lancashire were well beaten by Durham
Perhaps this is the start of the season proper for Derbyshire, who should take great encouragement from the win. The fitness of Madsen and Watt, two key players, is a concern, but they can all reflect on a job well done tonight.
Wayne appeared to hurt a finger taking a very low catch. Can only hope it’s just jarred and bruised rather than anything longer term. Craig
ReplyDeleteGreat win tonight. Agree with every point made Steve. The wicket was clearly hard to bat on. Low bounce and dying in the wicket. We did very well to get to 174 thanks to Mads and an unshackled Wood. The captains form is still a concern but class is permanent. I thought we bowled and fielded remarkably well tonight and fully deserved the win. Cricket is not played on paper, we all know but to give that team a bloody noise with world class players like Ali and Maxwell in their ranks should give the boys huge confidence moving forwards. Well done Chaps . Looking forward to Yerksheer now.
ReplyDeleteMy first live cricket of the summer and I was pretty impressed by what I saw, I have to say. A slow start as we can to terms with the wicket but no panic and with men in the shed we had the ability to accelerate right at the time we needed to. All the bowlers did well, very few poor deliveries and tje wicket of Maxwell just about sealed our edge in the game.
ReplyDeleteVery pleased.
Credit where credit is due, this was a much improved performance and a deserved win. It felt as if some belief was returning and alongside Wayne (again) it was good to see Chappell, Wood and McKiernan , for example playing with urgency and increased belief. Well done to the entire team actually. As you have mentioned Peakfan ,we all hope the injuries will not be too serious but if Madsen fails to make the Yorkshire match it will be high time for the Captain and others to step up and show the desire to maintain the momentum
ReplyDeleteA very valuable knock from Tom Wood to get us to a defendable score. He averages a smidgen over 40 in this format at a healthy strike rate and is good in the field. I don't think you're the only one Steve who is bemused as to why he isn't selected more often.
ReplyDeleteI think Wayne might have been injured catching Moeen low down. I must admit I looked at the Warwickshire batting lineup and wasn't hopeful, but all the bowlers and fielders were on it, it was helpful to have Nuj as a substitute. I do like Zaman, a real hundred per cent man in the outfield.
I final word of thanks to the ECB for scheduling this tournament so early in the season, it was bitter and a good number of spectators left well before the end.
An excellent team performance tonight bringing back memories of some of those fine victories last season. It’s encouraging to see Tom Wood taking his opportunities well and Haider Ali played some lovely shots in his innings too. Of course, it was Wayne who held the innings together yet again and I think I’m running out of superlatives for him now. At the halfway stage I did wonder if we were a few runs short and might have left it too late towards the end to make a charge, but it wasn’t the easiest pitch to play on and in hindsight, Madsen and Wood probably judged it perfectly.
ReplyDeleteBirmingham’s batting line up looked daunting on paper, but tonight our bowling unit really clicked. Glenn Maxwell looked threatening before McKiernan, bowling well again, had him caught. The partnership between Dan Mousley and Ed Barnard felt a little ominous but once Zak Chappell, who I thought bowled really well tonight, combined with McKiernan to remove the former, I felt sure we would win.
There was more of a buzz amongst the players tonight than I have seen this season, which must have come from winning yesterday. There seemed to be a greater degree of belief and I hope they can take this confidence with them into the next few games and put a run together.
Sarah
That’s the first time this season ,in my opinion ,we’ve ‘clicked’ as a team .All bowlers contributed and were backed up in the field . Birmingham have swept everyone aside until this game and this will give the Falcons dressing room a real boost . 3 hard games in a week Yorks(a) Bears (a) Notts(h) but a couple of wins would set us up for a push at qualifying.
ReplyDeleteAmazing win and agree with the general sentiment that this was a brilliant all round performance.
ReplyDeleteDifficult to imagine this is the same bowling and fielding unit we have seen in previous games. All the bowlers were tight sharp and clever and it was clear that the buzz and team spirit we’ve seen in the field previously was back.
Key point was the massive 19th over that tipped the game on its head. Wood has literally been a game changer. Was great to see Scrimmy in this form when I’ve been watching his overs through my fingers most of this campaign. Encouraging that there’s also clearly more to come from many of the team. A great night at TCG!
A fantastic team performance. I wondered if we had enough runs, but the bowling unit responded brilliantly, never letting Warwickshire get away.
ReplyDeleteWood played another good knock, this one more destructive (a strike rate of 205), while Madsen is in an unbelievable patch of form. While Ali didn't look particularly fluent in his shots, he managed to accumulate valuable runs. The skipper was out cheaply again, but a big score will come.
The table looks very different now to what it did on Monday night. We're back in the hunt.
It appears Wayne may have hurt his knee taking that catch. Fingers crossed it's not too serious. Good to see Ali finding some form and a good cameo from Wood helped propel us to a competitive score. When you see Wayne sometimes finding it difficult
ReplyDeleteto time the ball you know there's something in the pitch for the bowlers, and so it proved.
Khan seems to be improving with each game, and as said there seemed more confidence and energy about the side in the field. Beating one of the 'bigger' teams in the group should be a real boost. Hopefully we can take down a couple of the others too.
Wow, where did that victory come from?. After fifteen overs of our innings we were looking at a total similar to the Northants game, it was never going to be enough. But then super Wayne and Tom Wood got in their stride and accelerated the run rate brilliantly, just shy of 180 looked a lot more respectable.
ReplyDeleteThen our bowling was excellent, everybody chipped in with fine figures, Khan and Chappell looking astute signings and both got the job done. On a negative note though we seriously need our top order batsmen to start firing, it's left to Wayne to get us out of a mess every game, Ali looks way off it, Reece and Du Plooy also look hopelessly out of form, they have to start scoring big now. The question is though, who do we have to replace them?
I don't think Luis is out of form, he is doing ok, and Leus seemed to get a poor decision against Leics...both good enough to come again
DeleteThe contribution of Wayne Madsen is truly exceptional. Especially in such a high risk format as 20:20. Are any stats nerds out there able to say how rare it is for a batsman to score 5 consecutive scores of 50+ in this format, not just for Derbyshire but for any batsman, in any 20:20 tournament, anywhere?
ReplyDeleteHere you go, David
Deletehttps://www.espncricinfo.com/records/fifties-in-consecutive-innings-283383
He is joint highest record holder at present.. another at Headingley would put him top of the pile!
Excellent effort. Wayne Madsen brilliant x5 - let's hope he's fit to make it 6 at Headingley. Good to see Tom Wood getting a knock - I would like to see him open as his up-and- over hitting power suits the powerplay perfectly. Great work from the bowlers, who are collectively improving game by game. Confidence seems vital to this team, and the stocks of that have been greatly replenished over the last couple of days. Bring on the Yorkies..
ReplyDeleteAfter all the failures this season we have something to cheer about at last. Two successive victories and this latest one achieved in style. Wayne Madsen has been nothing short of amazing. As it says in the Cricinfo report "A white ball masterclass."
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