There was a good fightback by Derbyshire again today, not for the first time this season.
The last three wickets were polished off by the admirable Palladino and Groenewald, then the batsmen, led by Martin Guptill and Wes Durston, made their way to 187-4 by the close. In the course of his innings, Wes passed a thousand runs for the first time, a feat he can be pleased with. An average of 43 in the Championship, coupled with success with bat and ball in the one day game, has meant a fine summer for the former Somerset man, who passed 1750 runs in all forms of the game this year before the close.
He looks like being the only one to reach that landmark too, as Dan Redfern, Chesney Hughes and Greg Smith all need 250-plus runs from the last two matches - not impossible, but needing a major innings to get there. Meanwhile Martin Guptill has moved through the batting averages like Kelly Holmes on the last bend of an 800m race and now sits in third place behind Durston and Usman Khawaja. I'm sure he will want to pass both of them, but especially the Australian, in the last two games.
Meanwhile, both Palladino and Groenewald sit on 46 wickets, so both have a fine chance of hitting the fifty target and a fine effort. Both average 27 runs per wicket and they have led our attack well this season. If the weather forecast is anything to go by they will have to wait until our final home game to get there though, as little play looks likely at Chelmsford tomorrow.
Still, we shouldn't be too despondent. The side again showed their battling qualities today in a situation where we would previously have capitulated.
It was good to see.
Good efforts from Guptill and Durston,but yet another poor match for Hughes. Durston has been very consistent this season and deserves his landmark 1000 runs. If one or two more had matched him,who knows where we may have finished. Well done to Groenewald and Palladino aswell. Good to see Palladino protecting Smith. Some might think it should have been the other way round.
ReplyDeleteJust a brief comment about Martin Guptill - his fielding, particularly his ability to pull off a spectacular catch, must mark him out (with Gary Park), as Derbyshire's best fielders in recent years. Truth to tell, I have scarcely seen better.
ReplyDeleteMind you Whitely's fielding is high class, and if he continues in the same way throughout his career he will also be amongst the very best!
A lot of praise is given to batsmen and bowlers, but the above three people alone have saved Derbyshire giving away hatfull of runs, and added to spectator's enjoyment.
Lastly and finally, at the risk of attracting Marc's ire - when Greg Smith fields as a boundary rider, he pursues the ball like a man possessed, showing determination, enthusiasm and committment - he has performed well in that regard.