Derbyshire v Yorkshire Vitality Blast

Yorkshire 200-6 (Thompson 37*, Wharton 33, Bairstow 29, Ghazanfar 2-21, Brown 2-37)

Derbyshire 201-3 (Donald 85, Madsen 38*, Jewell 31, Whiteley 29* Sutherland 1-16)

Derbyshire won by 7 wickets 

The problem with watching Derbyshire in this competition has been their inability to produce a complete bowling or batting performance. To produce both has been problematic all summer.

Today we started well, but haemorrhaged runs towards the end, as Jordan Thompson, who moves to Warwickshire next summer, opened his shoulders.

Everyone got going for Yorkshire and 12 sixes were hit in their twenty overs, but Thompson's eleven-ball salvo for 37 unbeaten runs was the highest of the innings. Three perished to boundary catches by Harry Came, restored to the side in place of Brooke Guest, with Nye Donald keeping wicket. Will Sutherland did too, courtesy of a blinder by Ross Whiteley, who has held his share of those throughout his career. 

Regardless of it being a small ground, 200 takes some chasing in twenty overs.  Or could have, had it not been for another of those Nye Donald innings. 

Nye can thrill and frustrate with equal alacrity, but today he hit an astonishing 85 from just 30 balls, with 8 sixes and 7 fours. Everything found the middle of his bat, until he top-edged Chohan and was caught at mid wicket. His 13-ball fifty was the joint fastest In the history of T20 in this country (shared with Marcus Trescothick) and the only disappointment was that he could have claimed the fastest century in the club's history. Yet one cannot be churlish after witnessing such an astonishing display of hitting. 

Jewell lent good support in an opening stand of 115 in less than nine overs, without timing the ball quite so well, with the exception of one huge six over long leg. They scored 90 in the Powerplay, which sets an impressive benchmark.

It was an indication of how well Donald batted that for once Wayne Madsen was but a sideshow to the main event. Yet he played calmly and professionally to steer his side home, in the company of Whiteley, at last elevated in the order to play himself in and influence the game properly. They took Derbyshire to a fully deserved win with sixteen balls to spare, only the second time that the county has chased 200 to win a game in this format. 

For the visitors, Thompson followed his batting with a decent bowling effort and Will Sutherland bowled well for them, but the rest went around the park and the fielding disintegrated in the face of the onslaught.

They must be getting to the point that they give Derbyshire the points for this fixture. That's eight successive wins here and it just seems that the large, partisan crowd and small, intimate environment brings out the best of the Derbyshire side. Perhaps we should play more T20 matches here and play to our strengths..

It doesn't, of course, take away from the fact that we have only turned up three times in the competition. It is hard to believe that the side that beat Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire so convincingly, then played as they did today, has failed to win another game.

The ability is clearly there. Somehow, with changes in personnel, they have to find the way to produce the goods more consistently next year. It is no coincidence that the sides we have beaten are broadly similar in standard, yet we disintegrate when faced with supposed better opposition. It would help immensely if we only played Lancashire and Birmingham once each..

But today, regardless of earlier shortcomings, they hammered Yorkshire in a display that will live long in the memory.

Most of the crowd will have been very happy, as they made their way home, at the end of another successful Chesterfield Festival. 

As long as they didn't have white roses on their hats...