Yorkshire v Derbyshire Vitality Blast

Yorkshire 151-9 (Bess 53, Aitchison 5-29, Ghazanfar 2-5)

Derbyshire 157-2 (Donald 54, Madsen 51*, Jewell 41*)

Derbyshire won by 8 wickets

I have to admit to fearing the worst today, when Samit Patel opted to bowl on a pitch already used for a women's match, against a team fielding three spinners and on a pitch offering gentle turn.

Yet it was a case of our spinner being better than their three, as Mohammad Ghazanfar returned the most economical T20 spell by a Derbyshire bowler, with figures of 4-2-5-2. None of the Yorkshire batters had a clue what he was doing with the ball and it was mesmerising to watch. 

Yet he was (almost?) overshadowed by Ben Aitchison, who returned the second best T20 figures by a Derbyshire bowler, in taking 5-29 (stats from David Griffin). Dom Bess made a battling fifty, but no one else suggested permanence, even though not all of the possible catches were held. Special mention should go to Caleb Jewell, who held a flying one at gulley, ensuring that both the heroes of the Yorkshire win at Old Trafford on Friday, Bairstow and Wharton, were back in the pavilion early. 

Ghazanfar will very quickly become an extremely wealthy young man, on the basis of his stint with the county. I think he has got better as the tournament has progressed and although he will get worked out, at some point, his fast arm action suggests that might be some distant time in the future.

As for Aitchison, he showed the benefits of putting the ball in the right place, which is what he does most of the time. He will get better at this format the more that he plays it, but he showed once again how much this team has missed him in his two years of injury.

It might still have been a tricky chase, but once again Nye Donald led off with a half century, his sixth of the summer in this competition. If he can carry this form into the 'other' competition, he has a shop window to make himself in demand anywhere in the world. Few people are given the gift of timing that he has and in current form he is a magnificent spectacle. 

Caleb Jewell lent sensible, professional support at the other end and when Donald and Came went in quick succession, he was happy to take a backseat to a Wayne Madsen masterclass. Circumspect at first, Wayne took Yorkshire apart at the end as the boundaries flowed from his bat to all corners of the ground. He remains a special cricketer.

I didn't listen to much of the commentary, but when the equation had reached something akin to 20 from 30 balls and Wayne was in full flight, the commentator said 'If Yorkshire aren't careful, this game will be running away from them..' Inadvertent comedy gold..

A double completed over our old rivals. While a win at Chesterfield is an annual event, to do so at Headingley is especially gratifying.

In closing, one observation on the stream. Do they really need to pan across the crowd after almost every ball? There's only so many times that it is of even moderate interest, although it was good to see the Derbyshire players signing autographs for the youngsters as the game went on.

One more to go.