Derbyshire 151-9 (Madsen 37, Kerr 29)
Northamptonshire 155-5 (Cobb 70, Scrimshaw 2-32)
Northamptonshire won by 5 wickets
We never got going tonight and even though late impetus came from Wayne Madsen and Alex Hughes, the final total never looked enough.
To be honest, at that point I went out to walk Wallace, our fox terrier. I couldn't watch any more, though largely because a stream that constantly lost focus seemed to have cameras operated by Edward Scissorhands. My head was sore, trying to decipher what was happening and while it may appear churlish to moan about a free service, the home side's stream was very poor. There appeared to be only two cameras,, although it served to show how good ours is in comparison.
So I didn't see the home innings after the first two overs, but after a breezy Powerplay they could ease to the win. Even the early loss of Chris Lynn gave me no hope of a fairytale ending.
For me, our worst display of the season.
I have a few observations, but they will keep for another day, when I have more time and less need for sleep.
The form of the captain over the last few weeks from including the Notts championship game has to be a concern
ReplyDeleteVery disappointing performance. Little intent with the bat and the same issues with the ball as on Friday.
ReplyDeleteA really weak effort from Derbyshire yesterday, and old frailties starting to show through again.
ReplyDeleteIf we continue to fail to recruit a big hitter in this format then we'll never improve in the T20 format. We're desperate for that player who can smack 70 runs from thirty balls, our best could probably do it off 50 or 55,that's the big difference, we've never had a big hitter. 150 is rubbish and will not win matches against the better counties. Poor yesterday Derbyshire.
Disappointing all round but particularly galling to see a bowler we discarded - Tom Taylor - take 4-27 against us.
ReplyDeleteAfter Reece hit a six in the first over, I thought we were sailing towards 200. But instead we just spluttered our way through the innings, struggling to find the boundary and giving away wickets. In reply, Northants never looked troubled and got the runs they needed with ease. We've no lost four out of six, exactly the same as last season. Much work for MA to do.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Chesterfield Blue about needing a big hitter. I've been saying this for a long time. When Kerr was promoted up the order, I thought we might see some fireworks. It didn't happen. We need sosmeone who can take an attack apart, like Hales did with ours.
ReplyDeleteWe've definitely improved and become a more genuinely competitive side. Masood's quality has helped some of the other players to come close to maximising their potential, which shows what top class players can do. The trouble is that the improvement is from a shockingly low base. We are still short of quality compared to most other counties and our only wins have been against Leicestershire and in an eight over game. The real challenge for Mickey Arthur will be to bring in players who can take us to the next level. He's done a good job in terms of getting the best out of the talent available, but realistically, our current positions in the two league tables are probably not an unfair reflection of the current squad at the moment.
ReplyDeleteBen McDermott hit a very sweet indeed 80 off of 30 odd balls yesterday for Hampshire.
ReplyDeleteBut whilst I appreciate that it would be nice to have a player like that they're very rare and don't always fire even if they're called Jos Buttler or Will Smeed.
Du Plooy has been going at a strike rate of 154 so far this year which is pretty tasty and several others like Madsen, Guest, Reece and Came are going at 135-150. All of these named could in my opinion deliver the sort of big knock requested though i must admit we haven’t seen anyone really go on to a big score so far with nobody passing 60. Kerr has also done it before in Australia though granted only once.
I believe we have the firepower and before the end of this tournament a few of our lads will have delivered those brutal knocks we want to see.
One player I do think we're missing is Tom Wood who I do think certainly hits a long ball and often.
Was pretty poor last night. To only get one 6 and 5 fours in the first fifteen or so overs says it all and made the pitch look worse and bowling better than it was. The left arm spinner seemed to bowl leg side full tosses, half trackers and wides outside off and somehow we let him end up with 2 for 20! Looks like we don't know what to do with Kerr the overseas - he didn't bowl his overs again and looked a bit out of his depth at three (am guessing he was only a last min replacement but he still looks like he needs to settle). Much rather Madsen or Du Plooy came in earlier as they are the best batsmen. Our bowling is struggling to contain to under 200 so 150 wasn't really a challenge. Could do with two wins this week now to give us a chance of doing anything in this competition now
ReplyDeleteReece, Madsen, and du Plooy all have it within them to hit three or four sixes in an innings, but it's rare for one of them to do that. I agree with you, Gary, about Kerr. I don't think he's settled yet. According to Steve, Wood is absent because of personal circumstances.
ReplyDeleteAllestree Mick
ReplyDeleteThe worry is that there is little variation in the bowling attack. Watt apart, the rest are just running up and bowling and hoping for the best (but experiencing the worst). 6 wins might do it, 7 wins probably will. But looks a tall order.
ReplyDeleteGot to win these next two matches, no excuses
ReplyDelete