Derbyshire 139-7 (Critchley 72 not)
Leicestershire 143-6 (Cosgrove 57 not, Critchley 2-28)
Leicestershire won by 4 wickets
A magnificent all round performance by Matt Critchley was not enough to prevent a battling Derbyshire side go down to defeat in their penultimate group match of this T20 campaign.
Whether tomorrow's game is our last, and we again fall short at the final hurdle only time will tell, but we at least still control our own destiny.
After Yorkshire's astonishing win against Northamptonshire tonight. largely down to an astonishing tour de force by Adam Lyth, they move to second in the table, with us third due to net run rate.
Tomorrow looks like a battle to get on the pitch around the country, with Nottinghamshire v Durham looking likely to fall the same way as our game to the weather. So too does Lancashire's game against Birmingham, while Northamptonshire look set for the best conditions, against Durham.
On that basis, we may yet still qualify, but not for a home tie and will need to play better than we did tonight, by all accounts.
The batting never got going, with the exception of Critchley, who showed the nous to stick in there and bat the overs. The others perished one by one on a pitch that was never easy and for us to win with 139, we needed early wickets and tight bowling.
We got wickets, thanks to a stunning catch by Wayne Madsen and good bowling by the spinners, but frustratingly 3.3 overs from Henry and Viljoen went for 40. It is hard to point the finger, but in matches where runs are tough to come by, ten an over from your main seamers simply isn't good enough. Slower bowlers got the most success and Madsen, Tahir and Critchley all did well, but on the night it wasn't enough. There were a couple of opportunities, but we needed to get Cosgrove and the perennial thorn in our side did his stuff once again.
So on to Derby, where the weather, rather than any individual performance, may decide the ending of a fascinating, absorbing and entertaining group competition.
Will it be ultimately successful?
We'll find out tomorrow.
I decided not to listen to the second half of the match unless it got really close so didn't realise it was Henry & Viljoen who yet again got stick in the early overs. Very disappointing that the very players we've brought in from overseas (and pay more than others in all likelihood) let us down.
ReplyDeleteThey need to earn their corn, starting tomorrow.
Well done to Matt Critchley of course, the rest not much good to speak of I'm afraid.
A great pity not too have clinched a quarter-final place tonight, in spite of Critchley's all-round efforts. I'm a little nervous now; excitedly nervous.
ReplyDeleteHave studied the table in view of tonights results and reckon that the weather will have some say in it all.
Notts v Leics, in theory, has as much chance of suffering some rainfall as Derby tomorrow evening, going off the Met Office's forecast.
Statistically, Northants should beat a mediocre Durham side. The other match at Manchester (versus Brum) could also see some rain, though I'm unsure of the best result for us; maybe a home win?
Pity we've only played Durham once. Fairest thing would be to play everyone home and away. Bears at home also a non-fixture.
I've tried to get an idea of how the QFs are structured but had no joy. Does North1 have a home fixture against South4, and so on, conversely?
If so, I appreciate it ain't the most favourable way to progress but the pessimist in me is wondering if a point tomorrow due to rain is the most likely chance of us getting into the final shake up.
Whereupon, on our day, we could beat anyone, just about. I base that on Notts being the best team and us taking them to the last ball at Trent Bridge.
I do so hope we get through,for the players, supporters and club as a whole..and then take on all-comers, wherever and whenever.
I think home teams are drawn against away teams.
DeleteSaving the worst till last here Derbyshire. I keep saying it but we're not even contenders to win this T20, way too inconsistent with both bat and ball. None of our batters are consistently getting big scores, and the bowlers aren't bowling consistently good spells. Henry has been OK, Viljoen has been rubbish and that's putting it mildly. Tahir has been steady that's all, but nobody has come close to Wayne Madsen, excellent with bat and ball. Don't blow it now Derbyshire.
ReplyDeleteHaving followed Derbyshire fortunes for a couple of years now, primarily due to this blog, I have to say for the club to be in this position with a game to go is huge plus to all involved. Be honest, if this position had been offered in April, we would all have snapped the proverbial hand off! What a huge improvement in the twenty over format.
ReplyDeleteDo Derbyshire need big name signings? Sometimes it works, but I'm intrigued to note its the likes of Madsen, Critchley et al producing the goods this time around. Perhaps you don't always get what you pay for!
Dave, Wirral
Much as it goes against the grain, well done Yorkshire, you've done us a huge favour tonight, doing huge damage to Northants chance of qualifying without greatly improving your own. Unless I've missed something, we qualify as long as we don't lose to Worcs, whatever the outcome of other matches, and there's three no result scenarios in which we can still finish second. We can even lose to Worcs and still qualify as long as Leics and the Bores lose by more, though it's a little deflating after so much good cricket has been played by Derbyshire that we're talking about no results maybe being the safest route to qualification.
ReplyDeleteCritchley was outstanding, both for a very good spell of bowling which deserved better than it got, and a very mature innings in which he accepted that there wasn't going to be easy boundaries. There were some very poor shots around him, but I thought the running between the wickets was very sluggish and the Leics fielders were never pressurised in the way ours were.
It may not have made much of a difference in the context of such a low score, but the decision to open with Viljoen and Henry was mad. I presume the rationale was that Viljoen got Ronchi out cheaply in the first match, but when you've just been shown by Leics how to succeed by taking the pace off the ball, and you know how poor Viljoen has been in recent matches, it seemed almost perverse to change what has been successful for you so far. One supporter near me predicted "a wide first ball" but he was only half-right - it was a wide first and second ball, and then another 5 in leg-byes that might have been wides if they hadn't struck the pads. Ronchi didn't take a flying start, he was given one. I'm not sure whether it was a captain's plan or a coach's plan, but it was a bad one, a high-risk option in a situation where there was no room for error. The fielding was pretty ordinary at times as well, and Brodick put down a regulation catch very similar to the one he dropped a couple of matches ago. He looks a very capable fielder generally, so you have to think he's struggling with the pressure, and if we play tomorrow, it would perhaps be better to take him out of the firing line, as he's also struggled with the bat.
The top two teams in North and South have home advantage in the quarters. Ist North plays 4th South, 2nd North plays 3rd South and so on.
ReplyDeleteIt's so long since we qualified i hadn't realised they had changed the format! In 2005 we played Lancashire in the quarters.
DeleteI too was at Leicester, and our batting seemed tame. NOY is quite right about the intensity too, for I'm fairly sure Cosgrove ran more twos than the whole of our line up, and if MC can, I think most professional cricketers can.
ReplyDeleteI'd like too to comment on attitude. Umpire Cook had to reprimand a Derbyshire fielder for a loose tongue, but some appealing, in the Stuart Broad mode of " that's out, and I'm telling you it's out, not asking " cut no mustard with either Umpire Taylor or Umpire Cook. It was, to be honest, faintly embarrassing. I might add that the Leicestershire guys sat around me had harsher words for it.
Critchley and Tahir aside, we were poor last night. None of the three skills were exercised collectively with conviction, and if we show so little belief tonight we will struggle.
I hear what you're saying but i really don't think Leicester can take the moral high ground with their recent record...
DeleteI think the fielder was Viljoen, and it looked as if Smit was called over for a talking-to. To be fair, Cosgrove had challenged whether Reece's catch was clean a couple of balls before, and there always seems to be needle when Cosgrove's about. I don't particularly have a problem with intensity and commitment, but perhaps Viljoen's emotional energy should be channelled into his bowling at the moment.
ReplyDeleteThe concern I have is that this match is being talked about as a one-off, but we've been off the pace in the last two games against Durham and Notts as well. Whether it's the tension and pressure on the players telling, I'm not sure, but it makes me very nervous about tonight if there's play.