Even for me, not really a fan of T20, there was much to admire in the Big Bash game between Sydney Thunder and the Melbourne Renegades today. "It's still cricket, love" I told Mrs P as I made my way downstairs this morning to watch the game, leaving the rest of the family to have a long lie-in.
For one, there was superb fast bowling, hovering around the 90mph mark, from Dirk Nannes, Fidel Edwards and Shaun Tait, as well as high-class leg spin from an obviously injured Shahid Afridi. The three wickets taken by the latter marked the turning of the game, especially when he dismissed Usman Khawaja.
Khawaja had a mixed game, with two catches of real brilliance and a classy-looking 17 runs. While he worked it around, allowing Chris Gayle to blast away in his traditional manner, it was hard to see the Thunder side losing. Nor, at 101-1 in the fifteenth over, chasing another 40 from 32 balls, should they have done so. Yet Khawaja gave it away, launching Afridi, Gayle-like without the power, to a man on the deep mid-wicket fence and the game turned.
The new men found Nannes (4 overs for 10) and Tait far too much for them and I was left thinking that the Thunder, missing their skipper Dave Warner, were a two man side. Gayle eventually perished in the deep, starved of the strike and no doubt frustrated that no one had the nous to push a single. His 75 was by a distance the best knock of the night on a slow pitch, redolent of the County Ground of recent vintage.With a modicum of support it would have been a match-winning innings and deserved to be.
How Khawaja and his team lost this match will have made for an interesting post-match discussion and I'd like to think that a Derbyshire side would have made a better fist of things. They were in such a strong position that it only needed a little common sense to be applied, though I fully understand that knocking the ball into space when it is being delivered with pace and accuracy is perhaps easier to suggest from the comfort of one's armchair...
Anyway, it was worth getting up for, which was the main thing and if Derbyshire are looking for a strike bowler to top and tail an innings, those on show would be worthy of discussion. I still think Tait prone to erratic spells - his first over today went for 16 - yet his last three went for only 14 at the death, fast lifting deliveries combined with searing yorkers to keep the batsmen guessing. Nannes meanwhile was fast and straight, his first ball coming in at 91mph. Some loosener...
I haven't a clue who Derbyshire are chasing for the T20 as we enter 2012, but, like the rest of you, I eagerly await the breaking of the news. A genuine fast bowler, like Nannes or Tait, maybe Brett Lee, would give us something quite different and would make a few teams more wary of facing us.
As we enter 2012, I'm sure I speak for all fans by wishing all connected with Derbyshire CCC a Happy New Year. May 2012 be the year of the Falcons - and the year that you all keep checking in for news and thoughts on Derbyshire cricket, of course!
Thanks for your support in a record-breaking blog for 2011 - I look forward to hearing from you next year.
If we are to obtain the services of a strike bowler then it would have to be someone of genuine class,otherwise we are wasting our time. Military mediums are of little use and if that was all we could attract then a spinner would be a far better option. That,s assuming we have two imports,as a big hitting batsman should be the first priority.
ReplyDeleteTotally agree Marc. We need something different in attack and as I wrote in the week, someeone who can clear the boundaries.
ReplyDelete