Derbyshire 234-4 (Donald 84, Andersson 69* Whiteley 33, Linde 2-52)
Nottinghamshire 211-6 (Moires 75, Haynes 45, Aitchison 2-44, Potts 2-47)
Derbyshire won by 23 runs
The margin was 23 runs, but in reality it was much greater, as the visitors never threatened a Derbyshire total that effectively put the game out of their reach.
Their 234-4 was their highest total in T20 cricket and was led by captain Nye Donald, who hammered 84 from just 31 deliveries, hitting eight sixes and equalling the county record in doing so.
He was again well supported by Martin Andersson, who finished unbeaten on 69 at the end of the innings, yet faced only 43 deliveries. With late impetus from Ross Whiteley, Wayne Madsen and Matthew Montgomery, the total set looked to be a challenge for any side, even on a very good pitch.
Nottinghamshire never got going against a keen attack and had only reached 42 in the seventh over. Morley again bowled well, but puzzlingly only bowled two overs, the same as Montgomery but much more economical. Meanwhile Akif was terrific, very quick and hard to get away. This was his best display in a Derbyshire shirt and augurs well for the rest of the competition.
Haynes batted well for a while, but it was only when Moores came in that the scoring rate rose. He hit seven sixes, on a night that saw more than any previous Derbyshire T20 game, but the home bowlers held their nerve
Credit to Moores for continuing after receiving a fearful blow from Akif, which looked very nasty indeed for a while. Yet in the end his side were well beaten by a Derbyshire side that looks increasingly impressive.
I still think they can improve. The arrival of Mohammad Ghazanfar should see Caleb Jewell step down, as the greater need is for another bowler. The Australian scored four off nine balls today and the truth is that Harry Came and Yusuf Bin Naeem are making strong claims for inclusion.
Nick Potts could be the man to drop out for Ghazanfar. He bowled some good balls tonight and picked up a couple of wickets, but at some point the batting will be less productive and the onus will turn to the bowlers to force the result. Morley and Ghazanfar in tandem will make for a stronger, less profligate attack.
Momentum is building and we will have a better idea of prospects after Sunday's game at Chelmsford.
But in this form, Derbyshire should fear no one.
I was, quite literally, underground during the match. Heaven17 in the Devils arse cavern in Castleton. A fabulous gig, my word they've still got it and so, apparently, have Derbyshire
ReplyDeleteA delightful result to see once we regained access to open air and the interwebs
Enjoy your weekend folks!
Andy
Wow, we're the form team in the whole country at batting as it stands, but we sure have to continue getting 200 plus because our bowling isn't going to help us out. Great win though against the enemy and Donald's innings was a joy, he's in top form. Bowling still a concern though. Onwards and upwards anyway!
ReplyDeleteSuperb performance overall. Agree with the changes to come - Jewell seemed to sacrifice himself tonight acknowledging he was way off where he wanted to be. Good crowd in, biggest I've seen at Derby in years and didn't seem to be many from across the border. Shame the ground's not set up well enough to cope with so many wanting beers, I drove but a mate queuing for 30+ mins for drinks annoyed annoyed and irregular visitor to the County Ground.
ReplyDelete"So many wanting beers" was precisely the reason I avoided the match, each to their own, eh ! I also don't know why Morley wasn't given more overs. For me he has been our unexpected plus in this competition. Would also like to see more of Basra but that is nitpicking.
DeleteI’m very much not pro-Arthur but I can’t do anything but commend the coaching team for the way they are trying to play the T20. The batting is on fire and, as already said, the bowlers held their nerve well too.
ReplyDeleteAs a football fan too (Crewe Alex, your sympathies are welcomed), I don’t mind watching my team lose as much if I enjoy the way they try to play. The same goes with Derbyshire; currently, win, lose or tie in this competition, they are compelling viewing.
Chris in Shropshire
Donald led like true captain. When he's in his stride, he's as destructive as any international batsman. Andersson continued his remarkable form, and others chipped in to keep the momentum going. Despite Moores valiant and explosive innings, our bowlers got us over the line.
ReplyDeleteA fantastic performance!
A great win which was very pleasing. I thought Donald was a bit streaky early in his innings, but like the class T20 bat he is he just took that in his stride & cashed in. Whiteley played a superb finishers innings. The target was obviously a tough one, but where I think we won the game was their powerplay where we kept them to less than 50. I haven’t done the arithmetic but I’m sure they out scored is in the non powerplay overs. I’m guessing Morley didn’t come back to bowl as they had 2 left handers in, I cannot think of another reason. A great evenings entertainment & a good crowd.
ReplyDeleteMarkB
I think you're right about Morley, that's exactly why he didn't come back on.
DeleteSuperb performance and a great win.
ReplyDeleteDonald just needs to learn when to take his foot off a little, it was a great knock but the over he got out he was visibly trying to chase everything and having that maturity to just step back, rotate the strike, take a few balls to temper the aggression and then move back in to control playing each ball on it's merits and moving back to slog mode when ready is how he starts hitting tons in this format. And if he can do that then he starts getting serious franchise gigs because he's a serious slogman. Currently we consistently see him blazing away in rhe powerplay and then getting caught when the field moves out, he can blaze like few others but bit more maturity and he could genuinly move to the top tier of t20 batters and trouble England selection as well as bag himself some big paydays.
Bowling has been excellent, we're scoring a lot of runs because we've a big hitting top 6 but that puts the onus on the opposition to take risks and chase so it's inevitable that sometimes they'll go for runs but overall been very good.
I agree mate. He was in such good nick last night, after a scratchy start, he was on for 150. It was only the eighth over when he was out!
DeleteCompare and contrast.
ReplyDeleteAt this stage last year our stats were: Played 4 Lost 4 (and lost all of those heavily). Aggregate runs 661 for 29 wickets scored at 8.5 per over.
This year: played 4. Won 2 comfortably, lost 2 narrowly. Aggregate runs 855 runs for 21 wickets scored at 10.6 per over.
Last year we had already used 15 players and didn't seem to know our best 11 or best batting order. This year a settled 11.
All this without Chappell and Moore through injury, both of whom would surely have been in the 11 if fit.
The transformation is so extreme its more like a revolution. Long may it continue.
And also his first choice of overseas, David. Not forgetting Pat Brown. This is basically a second choice T20 attack at present.
DeleteA revolution indeed!
4 games in and Derbyshire are averaging 213.75 per innings.
ReplyDeleteI am fairly confident in saying that won't have happened before.
I'm not a great fan of t20 but these sort of performances could win me round.
Yes the batting unit is terrific. Fair play to Ben Smith for getting them so well grooved
DeleteNot sure why Morley didn't bowl all 4 . Great performance from Donald, reminiscent of the Chesterfield game . That 32 run over off Stone win the match for us . Good fielding from us today I thought . Basra always seems to lose his hat whilst fielding a ball. Saw Harry Moore at the game , had a nice chat . That Moores blow did look scary but that's what Akif can do on his day .Just a typo on Moores on the scorers section. Great win.Ethan
ReplyDeleteI think it was with two left handers in, Ethan, his natural turn would have been there for the slog sweep.
DeleteAlthough they could have perhaps got at least another one in earlier, knowing the batters to come
Very enjoyable evening and a great atmosphere, as a non drinker the queues didn't bother me, and perhaps the benefit of this was there was lack of rowdiness compared with earlier.
ReplyDeleteWish the DJ could read the game better and play the music at the right time.
A great team performance, Basra's fielding I thought was immense again tonight, that lad certainly saves us a lot of runs in the outfield.
As I said earlier 220 is a minimum if we are going to create sufficient pressure.
Big test tomorrow, lets hope for another win.
Just one last point have we lost the toss this season, as I can only remember us it winning it!
Martin
Fantastic win against the rivals. Batting was brilliant, Javed looked a real handfu; fast, aggressive and hard to get away.
ReplyDeleteBowling is still a big concern though. Reality is notts barely got going, never looked like winning and still got 210. That's concerning
It's Also bizzare that morely only got 2 overs, been the best T20 bowler thus far imho, only went for 13 off 2 and didn't bowl again.
In comparison Montgomery got a second and went for 34 off 2. Morely is top wicket taker and has second best economy whilst Montgomery has 1 wicket and is going at 11 and over.
Hopefully it wasn't morely getting injured and not another bowling iniury....
Facet