Lancashire 178-5 (Davies 82)
Derbyshire 174-7 (Madsen 44, Reece 39, Critchley 32)
Lancashire won by 4 runs
Even worse, Wayne Madsen, who looked like he would have won it for us, sustained a nasty looking injury to his achilles tendon which is likely to render him doubtful for the weekend four-day game.
Considering the inexperience of the attack I thought we did OK with the ball. Barnes and Conners pulled it back well at the end when they looked set for 200. The fielding was sharper, with Dal and McKiernan outstanding. The latter also bowled tidily.
I didn't get the rationale of him going in to pinch hit, however and the experiment didn't last long. Godleman was in uber frenetic mode and Reece batted well for a while, but when Madsen and du Plooy got going, a win seemed on.
Then came the injury as Madsen played his ramp shot. Thereafter he could only stand and hit to limited effect. Leus hit two fine sixes but could have showed greater nous than going for a third in the same over. Matt Critchley took us closer than looked likely, but we always looked just behind the rate.
At this stage a repeat of last year looks unlikely. I would be surprised if we see Wayne again in the competition, but it at least offers an opportunity to Tom Wood.
We will keep fighting and there will be wins to come, but the inexperienced attack and loss of a major batsman would appear too great a handicap to overcome.
We'll see. No complaints tonight, with better luck we might have nicked that one.
No complaints from me. An outstanding fielding performance and but for the odd loose ball a good bowling performance. Lancashire batted very well too. Billy never looks comfortable when the opposition open with spin and hes been sussed out. Good chase by us and with 8 to go we had a decent shot at winning. As much as I like hughes commitment in all facets he rarely delivers with the bat when a bit of pressure is on.
ReplyDeleteDisappointed ultimately but we did OK.
ReplyDeleteTwo points: 1) If Maddo hadn't have got injured I believe we'd have gone on to win that game
ReplyDelete2) why on earth did Dal come in to bat before Hossein, infact can someone please tell me what Dal brings to the table apart from alert fielding, he doesn't bowl and if that's his attempt at batting we're in trouble.
Sorry Peakfan but can't see us winning many matches at all in the blast this season, the bowling looks too inexperienced to me.
I don't think you do Anuj a favour there, Mark. He has shown this year he can bat and is a handy bowler.
DeleteHe isn't a big hitter, but I can't think of anything in Harvey's track record to suggest he is either. That's why we went for an Aussie keeper batsman this year.
If we have to bat time, Harvey is fine, but he isn't a bloke you would back to clear the fence. It isn't his game.
Having said that, I thought he kept well last night and his vocals and 'eye' on field placings were undoubtedly appreciated by his skipper.
A better performance. Did anyone see the highlights from Leicestershire against Durham? A very nice boundary scored by Lilley when striking the ball through his own legs.
ReplyDeleteThey've done well with the acquisition of Delaney on a t20 overseas contract and Lilley as a t20 specialist.
Given we operate with a similar budget it's a shame we haven't brought anyone in similarily.
Yeah we likely looked at that, James, but is there anyone who would make a difference, in Ireland or Scotland. I am not sure there is, to be honest. Remember we signed Boyd Rankin and Darren Stevens with little success but at a cost. At least this way we are giving opportunity to our players.
DeleteOnly Wayne's injury lost us that game, as we would likely otherwise have strolled it