Derbyshire 165-8 (Madsen 42, Smit 30, Henry 28)
Yorkshire 162-7 (Lyth 68, Tahir 3-18, Viljoen 2-33)
Derbyshire won by 3 runs
I said, Derbyshire won by three runs!!!
By crikey, that was riveting stuff to follow online, as Derbyshire followed beating last year's winners yesterday by beating the best team in the country.
Fair play to Matt Henry, who went from hero to villain and back to hero, as first his brisk 28 from ten balls gave us something to bowl at, then bowled a wide on the penultimate ball to change the visitors winning equation from a six to a four. Finally, in a denouement worthy of Shakespeare, Luis Reece held the catch that ensured a spirited - no, make that marvelous - team effort was rewarded with the points.
It was a team effort, but one in which our quartet of South Africans all played leading roles. Wayne Madsen's 42, in partnership with Henry, ensured that we recovered from a very slow start and then took the key wicket of Kohler-Cadmore with his second ball. His four overs for just 22 runs were priceless in ensuring that the visitors didn't get off to a flyer.
Daryn Smit? Well, he again kept wicket impeccably and his end of innings cameo took our total from respectable to challenging. The dismissal of Handscomb, a dangerous customer, was the turning point and from then on, Yorkshire were chasing the game.
Then there was Hardus Viljoen. Chesterfield is a challenge for a quick bowler, because most edges go for four, but his conceding only 33 runs he kept us in the game. That was especially the case in the penultimate over, when he allowed only five runs and took the vital wicket of Adam Lyth, who looked like he might have nicked it for the white rose.
Above all, perhaps, was Imran Tahir. In this form of cricket, three for 18 in four overs is sensational. On a small ground, where the slightest error in line and length will be punished, Imran's three spells kept our opponents guessing and he remains a potent weapon for any captain.
They were all heroes today, but Alex Hughes three overs for 23 were also key in not allowing our 'bits 'n' pieces overs to be punished.
It was a great day for Derbyshire supporters, for John Wright and for Gary Wilson, who would appear to be a canny skipper. There's still things to do with the Power play, because it was a misnomer again today, albeit against a quality attack.
But we have two wins from two, against very good teams. We won't play better ones, so if we can keep the intensity, and crucially keep key personnel fit, maybe this is the year we escape the group stages.
No fantasies at this stage.
Just an enjoyment of played two, won two.
Top of the league. And no, we're not having a laugh.
Now I intend to sit back and look forward to your comments coming in. If you were there, let me hear your thoughts on the game, the ground, the occasion.
Party at our place...
Listened to the fabulous Fletch on the radio, we do seem to think about the game a little more this year, there are points in the T20 when you think you are totally out of it, however its about just sticking in there, because as we all know a big over (20 runs, a 2 wicket over or even a maiden) can really change the game, we seem to 'hang in' better so far this season (early days I know) looking at it we do have some serious experience out in the field now, Madders, Wilson, Tahir, Henry, Smit, HV, signs are good however my feet are still on the ground. Well done Derbyshire, well done.
ReplyDeleteagreed.peakfan.
ReplyDeletekeep this 11..No tinkering about!,
splendid stuff.2 of the best teams in the competition..and weve had em over.no time for complacency..but ive got a g feeling in this T20.
Where do you begin after that? The victory over Northants was unexpected but to beat Yorkshire having only set them 166 was remarkable.
ReplyDeleteLike probably most supporters, l was surprised we chose to bat and like most l thought Yorkshire would cruise it when Lyth and Handscomb were still there. What an outstanding performance by the bowlers to not only take seven wickets but to contain and frustrate the opposition. It was vital that we did make inroads into their batting and that's exactly what Derbyshire achieved. Take a bow Madsen, Henry, Tahir, Viljoen and Hughes. Excellent! And, no doubt, that performance was ably backed up by good support in the field.
One shouldn't single out anyone in particular after an excellent team performance but Imran Tahir's contribution was vital as was Madsen's all round effort once again.
Early days but my overriding thought is whether or not the leadership and management offered by John Wright questions the wisdom of not having someone like him at the helm for all formats of the game. Maybe a question that can only be answered at the end of the season.
Stuart, York
What a wonderful afternoon of cricket, it was wonderful to see the ground packed to the rafters, and how they were rewarded with an excellent game of cricket. I thought perhaps it was the same wicket as for the Durham game as I like everyone else was surprised when we chose to bat. If that was the case it was an excellent reading of the conditions as most of the batsmen, especially Adam Lyth had difficulty timing the ball. The batting went a little in fits and starts but there did always seem to be some semblance of a game plan. Smit and Critchley played well reigning it in a little to make sure we batted our full quota of overs. Smit is particularly good in working the ball into the gaps, but also hits a long ball when he needs to. The bowling was good I was little concern when he needed to find an over from one of the part timers in the last five, but Hughes rose to the occasion. The ground fielding was excellent, the only blemish being the catches that went down, a bad miss by Wilson which could have proved costly. We have a run of away games now so we will have to see how things go. I think credit should go to Kim Barnett for recruiting players who seem to know how to win and to John Wright you can see already the tactics are very much under his influence.
ReplyDeleteIt is a pity the Chesterfield week is over
ReplyDeleteIt is how I remembered cricket in the 60s and 70s.
Beer tents, marquees, gorgeous setting. The only concession to the 21st century is that chemical toilets have replaced the open sewers that served as urinals and that disgusting burger van that serves the county ground. Who needs that when the town centre with all its cafes and pubs is five minutes away, that nice restaurant in the park and one of the worlds best sandwich bars is just outside the entrances. That lovely old pavilion, splinters on your backside, so what.
I spoke to some of the Durham supporters and the only attended because it was Queens Park. They loved it and not just because we gifted them a win
Let's extend the Chesterfield week to two weeks, no better still let the cold, dank, ill supported dump that is the County Ground become the out ground. As long as they keep that burger van
Would certainly welcome more visits to outgrounds with open arms. Heanor and leek to start. Let's be inventive like our first two games. Feet on the ground like others have said. We've won our first 2 before a couple of times but never 3. Win at lancs on Sunday and I'm a believer (to the tune of vic reeves)
DeleteMartin
ReplyDeleteIts a very good start!, but previous 20-20 campaigns have started brightly before fading away in the middle of the competition.
Here's hoping we can keep it going!
I really thought we had blown it when Lyth was going strong after dropping him early. But we kept going. Very happy.
ReplyDeleteA marvellous days cricket played in a fabulous atmosphere with the Derbyshire support on this occasion well outnumbering the Yorkies.
ReplyDeleteApart from our power play I thought we were always slightly ahead of the game as despite the smallish boundaries history shows that big scores at Chesterfield are not normally the order of the day.
The wicket by the way was not the Durham wicket but was 2 strips to the right as you sit in the pavilion. Had more grass on it this making it quite slow.
I think we need another bowler as we won't keep getting away with our " bits n pieces" bowlers so unless we bowl Reece I would play Cotton until Shiv is available and drop Slater who is contributing very little and doing it slowly ( one scoring shot in first 11 balls ! )
Thought we had snatched defeat from victory yet again with that wide off the final ball
ReplyDeleteThen Bresnen miss hit the retake and from where I was stood it looked like it had cleared the fielder for a second
All the puddings round me were up for a moment, and then down, collapsed like a badly executed soufflé.
Smit messed up a run-out actually. Kept reasonably well though.
ReplyDeleteWhat a terrific afternoon that was, eh?
ReplyDeleteChesterfield, bathed in sunshine, could not have looked any better today. Families, picnics, beer tents (or a tea tent, if you prefer), ice creams, and those wonderful mature trees.
Truly, a festival of cricket. Everything that is good about an English summer was on display at Queen's Park today.
And how gratifying was it to win on the last ball?!
The setting and the occasion deserved that thrilling finish.
Well played, lads! Good psychological win to boost confidence.
Did I see 'one short' signalled in their eighteenth over?
fantastic win at a fantastic ground -packed to the rafters - why on earth dont we play much more at Chesterfield - heres hoping the Kent game does end up there. To the game - i thought we were about 15 short - Slater is not a T20 player - wasted balls at the start and to be honest we were rescued by Henry and Madsden and agree Hughes and Smit batted sensibly to make sure we had a decent ish total. Our bowling was mostly fantastic - Mads and Imam were fantastic (mads should have had Lyth for 9 when wilson dropped a dolly!) and i thought Hardus and Matt bowled ok plus Hughes did well after a poor first over - we just need to get 4 overs off Critchley/Hughes/reece somehow then we will be ok - but sitting pretty tonight is a great feeling and Brampton brewery must have sold 1000's of pints today!
ReplyDeleteAgree with all of the comments about what a special occasion this was, but it would still have been a great match with an intense atmosphere if it had been at Derby, or Headingley for that matter. More like this might convince me to go to T20 matches more regularly, but the reality is that for every fluctuating nail-biter like this, you get 10 dull, predictable one-sided disappointments.
ReplyDeleteIt is, as everyone's saying, wise not to get too far ahead of ourselves. After all, we won two out of our first three last year, and were very handily placed after four matches. Even more so, in 2013 we won our first three before being hammered by Notts and then winning only one more match. But it's worth remembering that this is a very different side from any of its predecessors - I think only 3 of today's team played any significant past last year, so we don't perhaps have to worry about the mindset and history so much. The risk of so much change in this format is that there isn't the shared and established understanding of roles and responsibilities that often gets cited as the key element in successful teams, But they looked pretty clear today in delivering a vey good team performance.
A great day for everyone, I think as you say Peakfan keeping our key personnel fit will be the key. If our 3 star bowlers stay fit then we are definitely in with a shout of qualification. As yourself and many of the comments on here say we do need to do more in our batting powerplay as it present we do approach it in a too conservative manner. I would like to see us take more risks in hitting over the top and being far more positive in looking to score of every ball.
ReplyDeleteAt the interval yesterday I feared that we were 10 -20 runs too short but the bowlers really pulled it back. Two wins out of two and I like the fact that we have won the toss in both and chosen to bat first on Friday and field yesterday, which displays real confidence and show that we are not going to be reliant on choosing to chase.
What a great day of cricket at Chesterfield. It was a true team effort with most players contributing in the game. As a ground I can't remeber seeing huge 20/20 scores and 165 is normally very competitive score. I think yorkshire under estimated the pitch seeing how they approached the 1st power play. The bowlers really did bowl well yesterday and credit goes to them all. I do think what is vital for Derbyshire success is Madsen bowling alongside Critchley, Hughes or Reece. As having 3 very capable bowlers leaves us 8 overs. Yesterday was Madsen turn to take a bow with his bowling performance. Agree we shouldn't change a winning team and need to build. I feel like many supporters history shows 2 wins doesn't give you qualification but certainly helps. I don't think in North group there is any team that can be counted as easy team.
ReplyDeleteIt might be worth pointing out that bresnan and willey are not the worst opening t20 bowlers around and they bowled well..but we do need to cut down on the dot balls at the start and not try and just hit every ball for 4, slater was guilty of this yesterday. What a win and no i dont think the atmosphere would have quite been the same at derby in the same circumstances...
ReplyDeleteGreat game at Chesterfield
ReplyDeleteWe do need to address the top order and 5th bowler
On this occasion Henrys hitting recovered the power play and Tahirs class compensated for 5th bowler
I would promote Reece for Slater and assuming Thakor is absent bring in Cotton to bolster bowling and every batter shifts up 1
Well Done J Wright ... fancy it full time?
I see creweblade mentions the possibility of the Kent County Championship fixture being played at Queen's Park in September. I can find no other mention of this anywhere except in the DCCC Matchday Programme for July-September. Is there any actual prospect of the fixture being switched or is it just another of the too frequent typographical errors in Club publications?
ReplyDelete