Worcestershire 222-5 (Santner 64, Haynes 44, Hose 42* Khan 2-29, Chappell 2-56)
Derbyshire 194 (Madsen 63, Came 43, Mir 3-35, Brown 3-38)
Worcestershire won by 28 runs
They were victims of a very professional and workmanlike Worcestershire side, who put the foot down from the get go and never really released it.
Derbyshire had to be on point in all aspects of their game today, and the bowling, a strength through the latter part of the competition, let them down. I take nothing away from the Worcestershire batters in saying that, because they played well, but we conceded 29 extras, which is far too many in a 20 over game. Our opponents conceded only ten and there you have a major reason for the ultimate result.
In Mitchell Santner Worcestershire have the perfect overseas recruit. He scores quick runs in the top order, then bowls cannily when the time comes. If I was to read tomorrow that he had signed for us next year, alongside Zaman Khan, I would be a very happy man and fancy our prospects.
Khan was again excellent today, but most of the others took stick. I was not impressed by the 'match up' that saw Mattie McKiernan bowling at Santner, when it was clear he was going to go for it. As happened last year at Taunton, when bowling to Rilee Rossouw, he disappeared for four successive sixes. He doesn't appear to have a googly, so the Kiwi was free to hit with the spin and change the course of the game.
I know they have a plan and a bowling order (which seems pre-determined) but today looked one of those days when the skipper has to think on his feet and change it.
Hose played a gem of an innings for Worcestershire, his contribution at the end taking the score past what appeared a likely - and within range - 200 to something considerably better.
Only during a fine partnership between Came and Madsen did Derbyshire look like they might make a match of it. The former has done very well since he came into the side, while Madsen finished the competition as he began it. It has been a pleasure to watch the veteran this season, his striking better than ever before.
It needed one of those special innings from du Plooy, but today he was unable to deliver. The three spinners that I highlighted in yesterday's preview turned the screw and Derbyshire ultimately fell comfortably short.
I will do a summary of my thoughts on the T20 during the week, but for now, Derbyshire must regroup and aim to finish the season strong in the remaining competitions.
Well done Worcestershire. And it will be interesting to see how Nottinghamshire fare at Taunton...
What a huge disappointment that was, and when you see a team posting 220 runs you know Derbyshire will probably chase that down 1 time out of 10 and we were soundly beaten. Besides Khan the bowling was very poor, Scrimshaw and Chappell going for 100 runs between them.
ReplyDeleteOnly the Royal London Cup to look forward to now and I fancy us to give that a good go, as we don't have the pressure of slogging from the start, something we're not that good at
I have absolutely no interest in the 100 so I'm not sure if the draft has taken place yet but I fully expect Madsen Du Plooy and Scrimshaw to be involved and therefore unavailable for Derbyshire also it wouldn't be a suprise if Guest was to be offered a place and purley on the number of wickets he's taken this year in the T20 somebody might take a punt with Chappell
ReplyDeleteFor somebody who shows no interest in the 100 you seem to have nailed the drafted Derbyshire players rather accurately 🙄😉
DeletePaul
I will commend Worcestershire on their batting, a very impressive performance from them, generally hitting with the wind . Could we have bowled better? Of course we could, but that's the game based on small margins.
ReplyDeleteWhile Wayne was there, hope remained as he delivered another masterclass. But we aren't going to chase 222 very often.
The over from Mckiernan, the last one from Chappell ( which was wretched with a no ball and wide) and the ridiculous amount of extras have ultimately cost us the game. Mckiernan generally bowls well but when players get after him he struggles to adapt. I hear what you say Peakfan about match ups but he has to have a plan b rather than just putting the ball in the slot at the same pace!
ReplyDeleteFelt sorry for the batters scoring 190+ and losing. Only Zaman of the bowlers did his job and it would indeed be great to see him again next season. Do you know if he will play the 50 over comp?
Paul
Zaman was engaged for the T20 only, Paul. Unless he has any lingering issues with the concussion from Chesterfield, I would expect Lakmal to play the 50 over compy
DeleteI’m going to be totally honest here. When Mickey was appointed, like most Derbyshire supporters, I thought, this is brilliant: we have a top international coach, who knows how to win. Mickey said it was a three-year project, which is both ambitious and realistic.
ReplyDeleteTonight’s performance, though, was related to what Mickey said this week on the club web site about whether or not the squad had stagnated. We got thrashed by Somerset last season, and were, considering the importance of the match, pretty mediocre tonight, with both bat and ball. Wood, du Ploy and Ali all failed, Came was lucky to get into the 40s and Madsen batted well, but never looked liked playing a really explosive innings.
Our bowling, in which Chappell, Big George, and Khan have done so well in the campaign, was poor, overall. Over 15 went for 29 and (I think) the last over went for 27.
We just seem to lack consistency. We have players who sparkle on one game, but then don’t deliver in the next one. So, tonight, Wood comes in after a brilliant century in the last game, du Plooy comes in after explosive and match winning innings against Yorkshire and Warwickshire, and Khan scored rapidly against Yorkshire. And they can only mister 20 runs between them.
Mickey’s not a magician. Ultimately, it’s down to the players. I accept that. But this season our performances have not been great. We’re out of the T20 and bottom of the CC. It seems nothing much has changed. We had an opportunity tonight, and we weren't good enough to win.
The fickleness of some on here is astonishing!! You can’t expect every batter to succeed every time they go to the crease! The reason we lost the game was on this occasion the bowling and fielding was not as good as usual! FACT … you can’t have a go at batsman not scoring runs the “day after” when they have to try and go at 11 an over from the off! Ridiculous comments
DeleteWas massively disappointing yesterday. Bowling was so sloppy. I think there were at least 4 no balls where the subsequent free hit went for six. Even Matty bowled a no ball which was criminal. With two overs to go I thought if we keep them around 200 we can win, however those last two were a disaster. I accept the ball still needs to be hit, but my strong view is we gifted this game to Worcester, or at least gave them a very large helping hand. One thing I would say though is their fielding was excellent and as sharp as ive seen any team this season. So frustrating after all our hard work to get us in the mix.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe some of the comments on here. When we win we are the best thing since sliced bread and when we lose we are rubbish. The opposition are allowed to play well and Worcestershire batted superbly. Our batting was apparently "mediocre", we scored 194, that's not mediocre. Wayne also it is suggested never got going despite a strike rate of just under 200. Yes of course it was disappointing but T20 is like that, it can be a lottery if your big shots find the boundary or a fielder whether batting or bowling.
ReplyDeleteI didn't see the game yesterday so can't really comment on the performance. 190+ at Derby will win you the majority of games, so although some batters failed on the day we still posted a good score.
ReplyDeleteClearly the performance in the field cost us, credit to Worcestershire obviously. The lack of bowling options, as I've stated previously is a real problem when we have a couple of our first choice bowlers who can be vulnerable. We could really do with Dal stepping up and fulfilling that Alex Hughes role of pace off after the power play, especially on suitable pitches.
Zaman Khan's figures stood out, and he has really flourished throughout the competition. I suspect he will be in demand so it will be difficult to keep him but we should try... Haider, unfortunately a little inconsistent and we could really do with an all rounder, a Santner type if you will, as Steve has mentioned.
We got 3 more points than I predicted, and it was Worcestershire who clinched the one realistically available quarter final berth available in the North group. Well done to them 👏
Worcestershire were just better all round and it was a disappointing bowling and fielding performance from Derbyshire - you cannot afford to concede 29 extras. At the end of their power play, Worcestershire had made 70 with 13 of those being extras. At the end of our power play we were, I think, on 57 so 13 runs fewer and with no extras having been conceded. These things make all the difference.
ReplyDeleteFor a game of such importance, Derbyshire felt a bit flat in the field for me. When Worcestershire were fielding there was much more animation and the players were spurring each other on.
All in all the tournament ended for us with something of a whimper rather than the bang we had hoped for.
Sarah
A look at our forthcoming fixtures makes interesting reading. A generally restful July, only punctuated by 3 Championship matches. I would like to think that MA will pick our strongest team for these games. It's no good assuming that we will avoid the wooden spoon only because the Yorkies will have points deducted. There should be no reason why our strongest team could not beat Sussex Durham and Glamorgan.
ReplyDeleteIs it coincidence that we always lose twice to Notts and have never won a really big do or die game for a long time? I think Blast Off was meant to be an opportunity to adapt to the big game atmosphere. Sadly, generally only Madsen seems to raise his game for the pressure situations. Kris
ReplyDeleteYep, we do seem to be big game bottlers
DeleteI don't think it's bottle, more our players just aren't used to big occasions and crowds. If you are only experiencing this a couple of times a season, it's hard. It's probably why Mickey Arthur was keen on Blast Off. Kris
ReplyDeleteI agree. We didn't bottle yesterday, they bowled with greater discipline and a score near 200 was a decent effort.
DeleteTaunton last year was a bottle. This year we have competed but just been short of the requisite extra 'oomph' on occasion