Derbyshire 251-9 (Came 108)
Gloucestershire 195-5 (Charlesworth 58*, Hammond 50, Bracey 41, Reece 3-37, Lakmal 1-12
Derbyshire lead by 56 runs
Came batted very well and was the most impressive bat on his side, by some distance. Good support came today from Luis Reece and Alex Thomson, which saw Derbyshire reach 250 and a batting bonus point, before declaring with nine wickets down.
After that, Gloucestershire batted for the rest of the day but in no great haste, suggesting that a draw is the summit of ambition for this game.
It was good to see Suranga Lakmal running in hard and bowling an excellent spell, as did Luis Reece, but only Hammond and Bracey of the visiting side showed any positive intent.
It is hard to see where a positive result can come from tomorrow. Perhaps both sides are afraid of losing and going in to the T20 break adrift at the bottom of the table. The visitors may bat on for bonus points, but if they do off the game is dead from a positive result perspective. A bold move would have been to declare a hundred behind and allow a target to be set on the last afternoon, but I understand why both sides are unlikely to take risks at this stage.
Tomorrow looks like being a day reserved purely for the acquisition of bonus points. Anything more would surprise me.
Thought Lakmal was outstanding today. Good to see. Excellent too from young Mr Came too.
ReplyDeleteAgree with you about it being about bonus points. Even if we bowl them out for 20 more, can't see us taking the risk. But, encouraging signs in the last couple of matches - a welcome relief from that which had preceded it.
Another bore draw coming up here, I don't know whether it's just me who's thinking that our season just hasn't got going mostly down to the weather, and partly down to poor individual performances so far. Five championship games in and looking highly unlikely we'll have registered a victory yet, time for concern or no worries?
ReplyDeleteWell done to Came and Reece, undoubtedly the players of the season so far. To think they weren't even picked for the first games! Kris
ReplyDeleteBore draws do nothing bar emptying the ground of spectators. Batting and bowling bonus points are half of the problem, do away with them and increase the win points to 20. It could lead to more adventurous and entertaining games where more people may be inclined to attend.
ReplyDeleteIf a whole first day or more is lost due to bad weather, it would surely make sense to reduce the match to a single innings each with bonus points applied to that innings. The present rules inevitably lead to a meaningless situation with sparse crowds and lack of revenue.
ReplyDeleteGood idea. When Championship matches were three days long, if the first two days were washed out, the contest became a one day match. I remember Derbyshire beating Somerset in the 1980s in this way - and Somerset included Botham and Richards then!
DeleteYes, the weather has been a significant factor, so far, but it was fantastic to see Harry Came hit his first hundred. He's now a genuine batsman.
ReplyDeleteAnother disappointing Derbyshire performance in the three days play possible bar Harry Came's century. I'm getting concerned that we could actually finish bottom of the pile because quite frankly I've been very underwhelmed by performances so far. Quite a contrast to our early season title hopes
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