Derbyshire v Worcestershire T20

Happy days are here again!

Two successive wins in the T20 have taken Derbyshire to third place in the league table at the halfway stage, something that few fans will have anticipated when the competition began.

While the win was not straightforward, when we needed 25 from the last three with Park and Peterson going well and Hughes and Sadler to come, I was more reassured than in similar situations over the years. The first named did their job well, with Garry Park looking a very solid, competent cricketer in the process. His array of scoops, dabs and reverse sweeps were well utilised and he is having a very good competition with bat and ball. Peterson continues to be totally professional in whatever he does and sets a good example.

To be fair, we looked in control for most of the match, especially when Charl Langeveldt clean bowled Phil Jaques with the first ball. He and Sanath Jayasuriya looked to be the danger men, though the latter is a far cry from the player who terrorised bowling attacks in his pomp. He diced with death once, just clearing Steffan Jones at mid off, before hitting Tim Groenewald straight to Greg Smith at mid on.

All of the bowlers did their job well, though one has to admire the consummate professionalism of Charl Langeveldt. It was fascinating listening to him before the game and his four tight overs were an object lesson for the others. I only recall one bad ball that was hit through the covers for four, but otherwise he mixed it up and kept the batsmen on their toes.

To be fair they all did, with spinners Robin Peterson and Wes Durston both doing a good job with tight line and length. They were backed up by an excellent fielding display in a solid team performance.

When we batted, Durston and Bosman looked like they could win it on their own, with Bosman playing some trademark strokes before perishing on the boundary edge to a good catch. When Smith and Durston quickly followed to the spinners we had some work to do, but Park and Peterson kept their heads, rebuilt the innings and then finished it off. Although the latter was bowled by one that kept a little low just before the end, the work was done by that stage and we gained a valuable win, one that keeps us very much in the frame for the quarter final places.

There was some fairly erratic running between the wickets at times, that on another night would have been punished, but a win is a win. There were a few comments about Hughes being held back, but I thought it was common sense. The situation called for experience, while if things went pear shaped and we needed a six in the final over, Hughes was a fairly decent candidate to provide one.

I was very impressed by Moeen Ali for the visitors, who looked a class apart from some of his team mates with both bat and ball. He looks to have a bright future, but one wonders how long they can hang on to him, considering how the club was ripped apart last winter. They must only hope that he shows greater loyalty than some of his erstwhile colleagues