Derbyshire 303-4 (Godleman 90, Slater 72, Madsen 66 not)
Nottinghamshire 286-6 (Hales 77, Wessels 67, Patel 59 Madsen 2-26 Mendis 2-53)
Nottinghamshire won by 4 wickets.
It is hard to be overly critical of Derbyshire tonight.
Yes, we lost but we took a near-international side to the last over and by all accounts played some good cricket. Be honest, we topped 300 for the second time in three days, not a common feat in our one-day history...as in never.
A very solid batting display was led off by the skipper and Ben Slater, the latter sadly run out for the second match running. Late 'oomph' came from the classy Mr Madsen, though looking back there may be thoughts that the more bucolic Gary Wilson might have gone in at five, ahead of Daryn Smit. The latter did little wrong, but Wilson has a reputation for late innings pyrotechnics that we should have utilised earlier.
The bowling? Full marks for using Madsen against Michael Lumb, who likes pace on the ball, but it was puzzling that he didn't bowl more. The same for Alex Hughes, whose four overs for 21 were worthy of more.
Neither leggie did badly but there wasn't the turn that we would have hoped for in opting to bat. Ben Cotton was collared for the first time this year and it is sad to see the travails of Tom Milnes continue.
Yet we should remember that this is a side choc-full of internationals. To beat such a side you need to catch them on a bad day and hardly put a foot wrong yourselves.
We didn't quite manage that today, but can hold our heads high. It is a work in progress, but one that is moving in the right direction.
With everyone fit..perhaps with Viljoen and Davis to lead the attack, things might have gone the other way.
But they didn't roll us over and the small gains that will tip the result another time will be studied carefully.
Disappointed? Yes of course, we all are after a defeat.
But not despondent.
Not by a long chalk.
Injuries or not, the persistent playing of Milnes at the moment is a real puzzler.
ReplyDeleteI'm not saying he cost the game but yet again, his contribution was costly in a very tight game.
Agree that Wilson should have gone in one place earlier in the order. Even Mendis could have come in and dropped Smit further down.
But games are won and lost on small decisions and whether this is Barnett or Godleman making them, we must be more clinical in games and make the right calls to push 'nearlies' over the line. End of the day, its Wins that matter, not close defeats.
It would have been so nice to follow on from Sunday's superb victory.
Yes good effort one or two chances went begging smit is human after all.. but always chasing the game once hales got them off to a flier. He has done that to better bowlers than milnes so let's cut him some slack.. but he needs a rest on sunday! In similar situations in future then wilson ahead of smit all day long.
ReplyDeleteWhy is Milnes continuing to be picked?, is there nobody better in the second eleven?. He's not even finishing his allocated overs such is his poor efforts. No more please Barnett.
ReplyDeleteIn answer to your question Mark..no. We have a young seam attack because 3 are injured and we are left with academy bowlers. He is a good player..just out of touch.
ReplyDeleteAnd for the record Kim (not 'Barnett' please, you just sound rude) isn't picking the side. The senior players are. So they must see light at the end of the tunnel.
To be fair, if you are lacking rhythm, Hales, Lumb and Wessels isnt a top 3 you would wish to bowl at.
Then again, you wouldnt bowl a lad of 17 against them either in normal circumstances...
A reasonable effort, and we can still be hopeful about the future. Wilson is already looking like a great recruit. But it will take much, much more than an occasional one day win for us to be remotely comparable with the stronger teams. Of course the players must take responsibility for their performances (though in that case, it's not entirely clear why Tom Milnes didn't give way to Tom Taylor) but they also need to be adequately managed. That's why management is necessary, because the staff in most walks of life are usually and unavoidably too close to things to take the most objective overall view.
ReplyDeleteYou can have two takes on this match. One is "didn't we do well against a side that outguns us on paper?" and the other is "how did we not beat a side that hasn't been playing well in this competition from the dominant position we established on a pitch of our choosing that was designed to negate their strengths?"
ReplyDeleteIt was a creditable performance and an excellent game to watch in a format that can be so dull and formulaic, but this was surely one that got away. There were several areas we let slip - the run out of Slater for the second game running (although it's a bit tough to criticise this one aspect of an opening partnership that is averaging 100!); the loss of momentum as Smit ate up balls at a critical stage when Wilson or Critchley might have provided the impetus to get us up to 330; or the dropped catches and missed stumpings that would have removed Patel and Taylor earlier. And of course the disastrous three overs bowled by Tom Milnes. I can only imagine how he feels, but it's now at the point where, as a spectator, you cringe for him as he runs in. This has been going on from the first day of the season, and I agree with the comment last night from someone that this could break his career. How much damage is being done by the humiliation of being a front line bowler who is only trusted with 3 overs?
Of course, Hales might have done the same to anyone who bowled Milnes' overs, but the inevitability with which the initiative gained from the early wicket was thrown away in the space of his three overs was painful. Options are obviously limited by injuries, but if someone else had been able to bowl those overs at 6 apiece, we would have won this game. Yes, there were other tipping points in the game that might have affected the result, but you wouldn't predict that Smit, Godleman and Mendis would drop relatively straightforward catches, or that Wilson would miss a couple of stumpings. Sadly, Milnes' contribution was entirely predictable, as reflected in the comments here over the last couple of weeks.
On the brightside Peakfan, I still believe that we will qualify from this group. I've seen enough in the two completed games to convince me that with a couple of tweaks here and there, and a couple of bowlers returning, we can take on anybody.
ReplyDeleteHaving played Notts with their full team available, looks like on Sunday we will catch Yorks with five missing. The other four in our group are beatable. Let's hope we can get enough points to qualify firstly and then get a home quarter final.
I think we need to give notts some credit for how they bowled at the end even wilson struggled to get the ball away in the last couple and it's too easy to assume Wilson or Critchley ahead of smit would have resulted in a bigger score. Smit and mendis catches were hardly straightforward i must have missed billy's so cant comment and dont forget lumb dropped madsen..on 12. On the day they deserved to win and on paper they should have hammered us. We gave them a game and overall i thought we put in a good performance. The problem this year is we have to finish in the top 3 to qualify which will be a tough ask..
ReplyDeleteThe resuly was never in doubt after the brainless decision not to promote Wilson up the order. I left halfway through the Notts innings with them coasting to an easy win. The rain break certainly worked in our favour even though it curtailed the chase slightly. The last over win was a bit misleading.
ReplyDeleteGood post 'not over yet'. Yes there were positives but we need to change our mindset to improve or we'll forever be satisfied with coming last.
ReplyDeleteDespite the defeat l enjoyed my first visit of the season to Derby. Bill and Ben continued with another excellent start following on from the impressive performance against Northants. Sad that, once again, Ben was run out, just when they were well set but pleased to see Ben Slater back in the side and continuing where he left off in this competition. His time down under doesn't seem to have done him any harm! After that excellent start we looked well set for a total in excess of three hundred, but we seemed to lose our way at a vital time. I agree that Gary Wilson should have gone in ahead of Daryn Smit, he's more of a belligerent batsman and Daryn is still finding his way in the first class game. Nevertheless with Mads doing what he always does we passed three hundred for the second time. That was no mean feat against a strong Notts attack.
ReplyDeleteSadly, the total didn't seem enough after Hales & Co took a particular liking to Tom Milnes who really should not have been playing. Having said that, without Messrs Viljoen, Palladino & Davis, we were a little short of options. Just hope that mauling doesn't ruin this young cricketer's career. He proved towards the end of last season that he has the ability to take wickets.
On a brighter note it was good to see young Matt Critchley in the side and he performed well against a strong batting line up. Pleased also to see Mads opening the bowling too, not many openers like to face the slow stuff early on and he did exactly what was required in dismissing Lumb. The rain helped us but it always seemed we were short of at least one front line bowler.
My overall impression is that we look a more competitive and positive side than last year and l enjoyed an entertaining game of cricket despite the outcome.
Stuart, York