Hard as it is to believe after the three early losses, most of the other teams have been equally inconsistent. The Riverside in Durham hasn't been the happiest of hunting grounds over the years in most formats, but Derbyshire have every incentive to show their best game tonight.
There must still be a temptation for Mickey Arthur to have his powerhouse middle order of du Plooy, Madsen and Ali, six hitters all. But to do that someone needs to go in with Luis Reece and attack from the get go. Harry Came and Tom Wood may come into consideration, while Anuj Dal and Ben Aitchison made strong cases for inclusion yesterday in the Second Eleven finals day which Derbyshire won. Yorkshire were beaten in the semi-final, Glamorgan in the final.
As I discussed with North Derbyshire Radio's Matt Rhodes last night (aired tonight at 6pm on the station) I didn't have a major issue with the eleven that won that game. While Yorkshire supporters were moaning about Derbyshire playing a first eleven, the only first team regulars in the format were Leus du Plooy and Mattie McKiernan. We carry a much smaller squad and so there will inevitably be an overlap when only 17 members of a 20-man squad are currently available.
After batting for several sessions at Chesterfield, du Plooy likely wanted to get back into his T20 mindset and did so well, playing crucial innings in both games. Anuj Dal also batted very well, while Ben Aitchison took three wickets - all clean bowled - in the final over in finishing with 5-30.
Likely side:
Reece, Ali, du Plooy, Madsen, Wood, Guest, McKiernan, Chappell, Watt, Khan, Scrimshaw
Our hosts tonight have named a squad of 15 and welcome back quick bowler Brydon Carse.
Bushnell, Carse, Clark, Coughlin, de Leeds, Duneathy, Glover, Jones, Lees, Parnell, Raine, Robinson, Sowter, Trevaskis, Turner
I am going for a Derbyshire win here to kickstart the T20 campaign once more. They will be buoyed by the comeback at Chesterfield and want to end up on the right side of the result
What do you think?
This was a fantastic achievement by the seconds in the T20. With Dal scoring 375 runs (including four 50s) in the 12-game campaign, and Aitchison snapping up 19 wickets, both have made strong cases to be included in the starting XI tonight. Because he's in form with the bat, I think Dal is likely to stand more chance of playing than Aitchison. My XI would be:
ReplyDeleteReece, Ali, du Plooy, Madsen, Wood, Dal, Guest, Chappell, Watt, Scrimshaw, Khan