Having watched Birmingham last night, with an attack chock full of spinners, I suspect Derbyshire may go with an unchanged side for this one. If Cam Fletcher is fit, he may replace Luis Reece, but that would leave the fifth bowler duties between Alex Thomson and Ross Whiteley.
Worcestershire, who have been very average in this competition, easily beat their local rivals last night, mainly because Birmingham were shell-shocked by the 34 runs that Matthew Waite took from the final over, bowled by George Garton. They lost early wickets in their reply, including the crucial one of Sam Hain and never looked like getting close.
As I said in yesterday's radio interview, getting Hain is the way to success. They have some very good players, but he is the glue of the batting order and averages over sixty in the competition this year. T20 is an odd game but you only need one player to get going and it turns a game on its head. We saw that today, when an extraordinary innings by the highly talented Michael Pepper made a mockery of a Sussex total in excess of 200, Essex chasing it down with ease.
Likely Derbyshire side:
Donald, Lloyd, Fletcher, Madsen, Patel, Whiteley, Guest, Thomson, Chappell, Amir, Brown
Last night's home side was as follows:
Davies, Yates, Ali, Hain, Mousley, Bethell, Benjamin, Garton, Foulkes, Briggs, Lintott.
The weather is set fair and if it isn't quite a winner takes all game, with the home side pretty much sure to qualify now, a win would leave Derbyshire in a very strong position. I have really enjoyed the cricket we have played most recently and I hope the positivity and game management can be carried into this game.
As I have said all season, the talent is in this squad. If they all go out and show it, the game tomorrow is winnable.
I will endeavour to get a match report out after the game, before England take on Spain in the football, tomorrow evening.
We would all take a Derbyshire and England double, wouldn't we?
Well that was a seriously poor effort with the ball, can't see us getting near 200 tbqh
ReplyDeleteI don't think we bowled that badly. They batted well and the pitch looks a belter. We will see, but there is no reason apart from a mental one, why we shouldn't make a good fist of chasing this?.
Delete