Lancashire 178 -6 (Salt 44, Livingstone 35, Chappell 3-23)
Derbyshire 136-6 (Madsen 53, Chappell 34*, Wood 3-25, Green 2-16)
Lancashire won by 42 runs
Derbyshire slipped to the expected defeat at Old Trafford today, losing to Lancashire by 42 runs.
Pat Brown and Zak Chappell were almost back to their T20 best, Patel was canny and removed Buttler with his first ball, Ghazanfar needed watched and Martin Andersson was again under-utilised. Having watched him this summer, I feel he could do a similar job for us in the future to that done by Steven Mullaney and Dan Christian for Nottinghamshire in the past. Why he hasn't bowled more this summer is one of those mysteries, as he has rarely been collared.
Only Ben Aitchison was off his best, but he probably wasn't lined up to play too much in this format and likely needs to hone his skills over the winter.
In the field, Ross Whiteley was excellent, as was Pat Brown. Lancashire were never allowed to get away and the eventual target was certainly within range, if we batted well. Yet when big-hitting international players struggled for timing, I feared the worst.
And we didn't bat well. Caleb Jewell drove, leaden-footed, at Luke Wood and edged to slip, while Andersson got a yorker that was nigh-unplayable, first ball. Two down after two balls and Donald was almost run out in identical fashion to this week's second team game, backing up too far. It was hard to get away from the fact that Wood and Mahmood, international bowlers both, were too good for our top order. The feeling was reinforced when Donald played an unnecessary shot at Wood, just as he and Madsen were getting the innings back on track, and lobbed a simple catch to short fine leg.
Guest and Madsen got the innings back on track but Brooke struggled with his timing and it was no surprise when he holed out to long on. Patel didn't last long either and after a good fifty, Madsen was caught at cover, which was pretty much the end, bar for some sparky strokes from Chappell.
It was reminiscent of the defeat at Birmingham and again I ask why we opted to bat second, on a ground where the pitches often start slow and get slower. Also why, in a competition when so few batters have shown form, Ross Whiteley is kept back until we need 94 from six overs.
All very puzzling.
And hugely disappointing, like most of this tournament has been.
So frustrating yet again. As you say a completely unnecessary shot by Donald at that juncture when Wayne was showing him how the innings could be rebuilt. Agree with your assertions re Ross Whiteley. He’s still a match winner but for goodness sake give him some time to play himself in up the order , rather than expecting him to blast sixes from the word go.
ReplyDeleteAndy
We did well keeping Lancs under 180, but our batting never really got going, and the run rate climbed. Disappointing.
ReplyDeleteWent to the match Peakfan and agree there are some bizarre decisions made by us at times. Win the toss on a used pitch and with it forecast to drizzle for most of the first innings after pouring down all night! Did well to keep them to 180 with a wet ball and their batting line up. Again as you say Andersson bowled well - definitely underused and seems a last resort. Batting as you say just looks poor. Don’t think Jewell is really a T20 player and no idea why Whiteley sits in the dugout half the time until the game has long gone. Just odd lacking in common sense decision making!
ReplyDeleteI keep bleating on about Donald, but surely his ship has now sailed as an opener. Personally, I’d open with Whiteley for the remaining games.
ReplyDeleteI don't feel they have got close to fully utilising Ross this year. Just seems the strategy has been on a wing and a prayer, same as the batting order .
DeleteAlthough Luke Wood claimed wickets in the first two balls, we still had a chance of hitting the target, if we could find the boundary. While Madsen did his best, we never looked like winning. We got bogged down. We needed a couple of overs where we scored between 15 and 20 to give us a chance, but it didn't happen.
ReplyDeleteOur bowlers did a decent job, overall, and Brown and Whiteley were exceptional in the field.
We travelled up to the match. There was no parking all around the ground what was very strange. We missed the power play and then enjoyed some of the best bowling I’ve seen this year in competition. The Brown, Chappell and Andersson combination worked really well.
ReplyDeleteThe damage was done in 1st in our 1st over always difficult to recover from. I do think we should be getting Ross involved earlier he looked one our best batsman in competition. I also think if we played like we did today with ball we would win more than we lose. Overall great day out onto Chesterfield.!
It's getting to the stage where we might not bother turning up when Lancs are the opponents.
ReplyDeleteTo be fair, expected nothing less yesterday Steve. The rain has just stopped here so fingers crossed we get a game in this afternoon and can crack a win.
ReplyDeleteAndy
We are predictably unpredictable in the T20 as well as lacking quality. On the few occasions we bowl well our batting, other than Wayne, lets us down. Hopefully with Reece coming back, we can show some fight in the remaining 4 day games. Grant from Telford
ReplyDelete