Derbyshire v Northamptonshire day 4

Derbyshire 604-7d

Northamptonshire 228 and 263 (Bartlett 65*, McSweeney 62, Chappell 4-53, Bashir 3-70) 

Derbyshire won by an innings and 113 runs

As I had told a few people I would do yesterday, I left Derby at 4am this morning and walked into our house exactly five hours later. My new claim to fame may be in having circumnavigated Pentagon Island without stopping. Easy, when there is nothing else on the road and the lights keep changing.

Just time for a nap before watching a final day that shredded nerves but ultimately saw Derbyshire triumph by an innings and 113 runs after an excellent bowling display that matched a team display that was impossible to fault.

I don't think I have seen Zak Chappell bowl better this season than he did in this game. He has always been a willing workhorse and the workload has perhaps sometimes got the better of him, but here there was added hostility as he ran in hard, bristled with aggression and got his just reward with four wickets.

At the other end, Shoaib Bashir again showed his international credentials. While it appears likely that he will be overlooked for the first Test of the summer (according to reports) he is benefiting from the bowling that he gets in this Derbyshire attack, while the county reaps the rewards of him being in it. You don't often see spinners who offer similar aggression to their pace counterparts, but Bashir does and it is a welcome sight in a Derbyshire side that could often be accused of being too 'nice'.

Yet this was an all-round effort. Aitchison got the first wicket of the day, while Haydon went for one run an over, always challenging. There were times when an eventual win seemed unlikely, especially when McSweeney and Bartlett battled together for 25 overs, but you couldn't fault the effort, the focus and the desire to win. 

It was hard to believe that this was the same side that lost to Kent and Gloucestershire. The visitors were second in the table before this game, having played some very good cricket. Here, they were comprehensively outplayed from a Derbyshire side that was 'on it' from start to finish. 

McSweeney played well for Northamptonshire, even if at times seeming intent to use every bat in the dressing room. After a shaky start he looked a good player, but he will have been disappointed to have been 'strangled' down the leg side for the second time in the game.

Bartlett also battled hard. He was courted by Derbyshire before he signed a three-year deal in Northampton and might have had greater opportunity had he chosen differently, but he did a wonderful job for his side here in resisting for 175 balls.

Unexpected and final resistance came from George Scrimshaw, never someone with pretensions to batting feats, but twenty overs and several bowling changes later he was still there, playing straight and using his reach to resist what was thrown at him. As the final twenty overs ticked by, shots of the crowd showed the tension, likely replicated in myriad watching living rooms around the world. Were Derbyshire, as in the Worcestershire game, to be thwarted by a rearguard action? 

Was that a sharp chance put down by Guest off Bashir? Then one just past Jewell's outstretched hand at the other end. I messaged a good friend.

Eleven overs to go. Andersson is on, runs in, goes wide on the crease and arrows it in to the front pad of Scrimshaw. Leg before after 55 balls of resistance. Fair play, George, that was a fine effort. Peakfan's prophecy, or Psychic Steve? Either way, we'll take it and credit the skipper for the right call.

A terrific game of cricket which I loved seeing in the flesh for three days. I think I was probably warmer than most who were there on the fourth AND I had two dogs lying at my feet as I watched.

The first win of the season. Let's go down to Lord's and do it again. 

Middlesex are second now. You've got previous on second-placed teams, lads...😉

I look forward to your comments tonight. Get them coming in

PS to my Essex friends who I met in Derby, your journey home tonight will be on air!