To be honest, it didn't look likely when the visitors needed only 19 from the last two overs. First team skipper Lewis Hill was batting beautifully and they had seven wickets in hand, at 161-3.
But a direct hit from Harry Came ran him out and Pakistan quick bowler Zaman Khan conceded only five runs from the penultimate over. He bowled beautifully, not fully reflected in his four overs, taking two wickets for twenty runs.
That over left George Scrimshaw 14 to play with in the last, but when he bowled Scott Steel with his first ball, the game was pretty much up. He conceded only three from the bat in that last over and the two quicks bowled well in unison.
Earlier, Harry Came and Tom Wood made up the bulk of Derbyshire's 179-8, the former making 70 and the latter an unbeaten 66.
Yet the start was too slow, only thirty runs from the first five overs. Came only made three from his first dozen deliveries and while he accelerated well later, a failure to do so loses a match. At senior level that would be punished.
Likewise, the end of the innings was poor, with only 22 runs scored in the final three overs for the loss of five wickets. Common sense dictated each new batter got off strike and gave it to Wood, who was largely left helpless at the other end.
Little things, but in the context of winning matches at the next level, they mean a lot.
Yes a mixed bag in the seconds game yesterday. Big George and Khan bowled exceptionally well, and put the brakes on Leicestershire at at the end of their innings when they looked like winning easily.
ReplyDeleteRegarding the batting, it was good to see Came and Wood both score 50s. I thought Came looked more fluent than Wood, and he timed the ball much better.
It was concerning to see us go from 130-1 to 179-8 when 200-220 looked on the cards. We can't have these sorts of collapses if we want to stand a chance of getting out of the group stage.
Yes, 180 is the old 150-160..competitive but not out of sight. You have to bowl well with such a score and as a full attack we haven't yet done that. But there is time, plenty of it at this stage!
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