Northamptonshire 156-8 (Gay 47, Zaman 3-26)
Derbyshire 160-4 (Came 43, du Plooy 40*, Madsen 35, Guest 16*)
Derbyshire won by six wickets
If they can replicate the efficiency shown against Yorkshire on Sunday and Northamptonshire tonight, they are perfectly capable of beating Lancashire. They then have two remaining games, at home to Leicestershire and then Worcestershire
Realistically they need to win them all, but the way they played tonight again suggested that they are capable of doing so.
Northamptonshire opted to bat and it was far from an easy wicket on which to score quickly. The new look, new strategy Derbyshire attack was keen, with Alex Thomson once again to the forefront with some canny off spin bowling in the Power play overs. He has kept a very tight line and length in the past two games and reaped the dividends, tonight removing the dangerous Vasconcelos in the first over.
The home side battled hard, but never really got away against some keen Derbyshire bowling. I thought we made very good use of the short ball tonight, with some excellent, unplayable bouncers from both Scrimshaw and Khan, while Chappell was again his usual wily self.
Khan continues to impress me. His skills for a bowler of such tender years are quite remarkable and he has done well in almost every game. I like that he bowls the one over at the top, then can pretty much finish at one end in that crucial death period. Three for 26 was a fine return tonight, including two wickets with magnificent yorkers. I hope we can retain his services for next season, because he is a serious talent who I love watching.
The Derbyshire reply was slow to get going and the dismissal of Reece was not unexpected. Ali struck a couple of powerful blows, but the running with Came was a source for concern at that stage of the innings.
When Ali was dismissed, Madsen was quickly into his stride and with Came starting to middle the ball, the run rate increased and victory looked more likely. Wayne was bowled by Willey, who did well for the home side, before Came holed out at mid on, trying to push the rate.
Which brought together the heroes of Sunday, du Plooy and Guest. How nice it is to report that we now have not just one finisher, but two. The skipper was once again wristy brilliance, one flip over the wicket keeper, that could have looked horrific had he missed it, ended up looking inspired. A straight six eased the pressure, not too long after Guest heaved Tye over mid wicket for one of the biggest sixes of the night.
45 were needed from 28 balls when they came together, but they needed only 23, Tom Taylor's four wides sealing a professional win.
A closing word about Guest. He tends to go under the radar, because we expect him to be good. His wicket keeping maintains a high standard and he does a lot of work in keeping the field on its toes. His bustling presence with the bat at the end is reassuring and we are starting to look a proper side in this format.
Lancashire next. Win that one and we can really start to believe.
Yorkshire may yet face a points deduction, which should be announced next week and there is everything to play for at this stage.
Well done Derbyshire!
Well done indeed. This team is gelling nicely after a torrid start to the campaign. Both batting and bowling units are coming good at the right time, and it's great to see Ali and Khan clearly enjoying themselves as they settle to their tasks. A word too for Thomson, who has slotted into Watt's role impressively.
ReplyDeleteI never thought I would be saying this this season but I back us for the quarters now - we are coming good when it matters. All the way? You never know...
The only downside tonight is the unwelcome news that Middlesex head a number of counties chasing du Plooy's signature. I hope MA and the Board do everything in their power to keep him. Having two consecutive seasons where a new captain departs after just one year is not a good look.
This side is gelling together really well now, something that looked well nigh impossible just a few weeks ago. The fielding is sharper, the bowlers are performing as a unit and a good number of batters are capable of affecting the game dramatically. I said some time ago that Du Plooy needed to ' get his head together ' which I felt was harsh actually but he seems to have done exactly that and what a talent he is. Absolute class and incredible ability- his biggest weakness seems to be his choice of shot. As you say Peakfan, Guest is a tremendous cricketer and suddenly the team is blessed with a whole host of solid performers , capable of beating any other T20 side on its day. I hope they do qualify because frankly they deserve to after turning around the campaign so significantly. There is an air of confidence about the Derbyshire side now and although there is still a lot to do they do have a definite chance to progress. Absolutely delighted.
ReplyDeleteAnother excellent result against a decent side who like ourselves comfortably beat Yorkshire. However, they also beat Nottinghamshire which was no mean feat. So l think that puts tonights result into
ReplyDeletesome sort of perspective.
Good that they have now found a settled side where we have a batting line up that can accelerate in the second half of the innings. And particularly pleasing to see Brooke Guest amongst the runs again following his excellent partnership with du Plooy at Queens Park. Equally the bowling attack looks a handful with Chappell, Khan and Scrimshaw all capable of taking wickets, while Thomson has stamped a claim to a place in the side on merit in the absence of Mark Watt.
All in all an impressive performance and just hope we can make it to the later stages of the competition although it’s going to be a close call.
Nudger Needham
The annual beating of Yorkshire at Chesterfield has become so enshrined in the calendar that the Trooping of the Colour was moved to the day before in order for it to retain at least some media attention. The fact that we beat them by such a margin and with so many 2nd team players was really just the icing on the stick of Rhubarb.
ReplyDeleteThat's one thing, but to beat a financially solvent county with more players than lawyers such as Northants was something else and hopefully this Derbyshire will turn up at Old Trafford on Friday.
My own experiences of Old Trafford are mixed. In 2013 I saw almost an entire day of rain and the Ashes retained, in 2005 I saw almost an entire day or rain on day 3, day 4 set up an intriguing day 5 which would have been great had I not overslept and found 25,000 people ahead of me in the queue. 2002 featured biblical rain but David Bowie managed to occupy the stage for a couple of hours.
One slight correction, I think the Worcestershire T20 game is at Derby - hope so anyway as we're planning on going to that one.
Paul (Pride Park)
Very good Paul! I wish I'd thought of that first paragraph, the...'so many 2nd team players' surely being worthy of an award!
DeleteMy experience of Old Trafford in 2005 was very similar...
Excellent against Yorkshire, excellent tonight. It's my home game on Friday where the Wirral branch of the Derbyshire CCC fan club get to attend. Not many of us in the club in fairness (they're heathens over here), but you'll hear us !
ReplyDeleteReally looking forward to it now we have a top four chance.
We look a totally different team to the one that started the campaign. We're now bowling well and batting with purpose and aggression. Another good knock from the emerging Came, and handy runs from Madsen made sure we didn't fall behind. I must admit that I did wonder in the latter part of our innings if we would subside, but, once again, du Plooy led the way, well supported by Guest, who is turning into a really good T20 batsman.
ReplyDeleteI can see why Mickey signed Khan. He's exceptional, and he plays with such joy. But Scrimshaw, Chappell, McKiernan, and Thomson are all putting in top notch performances.
We look a team who means business.
I was very impressed with Thomson's bowling on Sunday at Chesterfield and it was good to see him maintaining that high standard last night. Zaman Khan's pace and accuracy on Sunday was awesome and, as has been said above, he would be a definite asset for 2024. An excellent win which gives us hope of progressing further.
ReplyDeleteA deserved win, although I thought we were a little fortunate with the lbw shout against Wayne, and what on earth Tom Taylor was doing with that 'catch' on the boundary I shall never know. The bowlers are really working well as a unit, I'm normally not a fan of relying on just the 5 main options, but it's working.
ReplyDeleteBeating a powerful looking Lancashire on their own patch is going to be a tough ask, but we couldn't be going into that game with any more confidence than we should have right now.
I expect we will go with the same side, and I'm a big fan of Luis Reece but his dismissal yesterday was a dreadful one. It was the type of shot I play most Saturdays! Let's hope a game against his former club can spark him back into the sort of innings we all know he is capable of.
Lovely to see us getting back into the groove now. These last two performances have been very professional in the extreme, this latest victory timed to perfection. Leus has come into his own recently and is striking the ball beautifully, and is also finding a cool partner in Brooke Guest. Harry came produced another important knock even if it was on the slow side.
ReplyDeleteBowling wise I thought we were very good, Thomson and Khan in particular, excellent. There's no reason to fear Lancashire on Friday, we might have thought so after their first three matches, but they have collapsed somewhat along the way. Come on Falcons fear nobody
A bit disappointed Came wasn't in from the start of the tournament, but maybe he was tied up with the second team captaincy. I think this is the best T20 side we've had since 2019. Kris
ReplyDelete