Derbyshire 256-9 (Andersson 112, Guest 48, Robinson 3-44)
Durham 257-5 (Stokes 108*, Rhodes 45, Aitchison 3-31)
Durham won by five wickets
The former England captain started slowly but gradually became more expansive and saw his side home with a degree of comfort. He was well supported initially by Will Rhodes when Ben Aitchison took early wickets, but then took control and played an innings befitting the fine player that he is.
I would have to say that on the basis of this display I do not expect Derbyshire to win many games in this competition.
Martin Andersson made a splendid century and had good support from Brooke Guest and Yusuf Bin Naeem, but otherwise it was all a little underwhelming from the home side. Wayne Madsen got going but then got out, while Ross Whiteley and Anuj Dal didn't get going at all, making two and nought respectively. In a side not overly blessed with batting and with no overseas player, the attack simply didn't have enough to play with.
Like a few other people, at the halfway stage I thought Derbyshire were 30 to 40 runs short and despite good bowling from Ben Aitchison, the visitors never really needed to take risks.
Derbyshire took it fairly deep, to the last over, but the result was never in doubt some time before that.
From 181-2 in 36 overs, they should have made 300 against a Durham side where the batting looked much the stronger suit. Yet they bowled tidily as a unit and Derbyshire only managed 75 from the final 14 overs.
There isn't much more I can add really. I suspect that I am not the only one who is resetting expectations for this competition and it is hard not to do that, after a display that was somewhat anaemic.
Work to do.
I said at the start we were a batter light. Poor shots combined with a considerable number of mediocre performances resulted in an easy enough win for a depleted Durham side. We just aren’t very good are we? Grant from Telford
ReplyDeleteYes, losing 6 wickets for 45 runs from overs 36 to 46 is not good. They are missing Donald and Montgomery big time because for a team like Derbyshire they are a big loss
ReplyDeleteMichael
It’s not just the fact it’s another defeat It’s the way we never seem to learn anything or improve. Team selection is also odd playing bin naeem as a batsman but not trusting him to bat until number 7 and playing two off spinners who bat 10 and 11 on a not particularly spin friendly pitch. Unless he is injured it’s unbelievable that Hayden didn’t get chosen to play. I honestly thought we would qualify for the semi finals but after just one performance the way we lost I now know how misguided I was. Under mickey Arthur I wouldn’t bet on us winning the National village cup if we were allowed in. Brilliant innings by Andersson though and great bowling as ever by Aitcherson. Brilliant match winning effort obviously from stokes
ReplyDeleteI agree with most of your comments, but good support from Brooke Guest? His scoring was just too slow. The pitch did not have any demons but looked difficult to score quickly on. But batsmen who get in have to be thinking of a scoring rate of towards a run a ball.
ReplyDeleteAndersson batted well. Aitchison was fantastic & kept us in the game longer than we deserved. There was not much cause for optimism apart from those 2
MarkB
Agreed far too slow
DeleteJohn life member
It may be a simplistic view, but there were far too many dot balls in Derbyshire’s innings for my liking. At 180/2 with 14 overs remaining, we should have been looking at a total somewhere around 280–300.
ReplyDeleteThe inconsistency is becoming all too consistent across all formats. I also can’t understand why we didn’t have a practice match before the competition, unless I’ve missed something?
Where is Caleb Jewell? We really need him batting at No. 4 or 5. And why are Derbyshire going into a competition where they should be competitive without an overseas player?
I agree with Peak Fan—I only expect two wins at best. Based on this performance, it’s given me very little hope.
Not contracted for 50 over tournament we were told. Can anyone confirm?
DeleteNot sure what was going through Wayne Madsen's mind with that ugly heave which began Derbyshire's decline from 181-2 at a time when 300 was well within reach. Despite the loss of two early wickets, Durham were always favourites to chase down such a modest target.
ReplyDeleteMark from Buxton
It's not even a case of one step forward two steps back now, it's just two steps back. More rubbish batting apart from Andersson and Guest, set Durham a pretty easy target especially with Ben Stokes in their eleven. And so it proved, they ran out comfortable winners, Stokes doing it almost single handedly . Another dismal trophy Hunt on the cards, yep probably. If MA fails to win us promotion from the championship this season, i want him gone
ReplyDeleteDisappointing, Steve.
ReplyDeleteGreat effort from Andersson, but others let him down. We should have posted 300-330. As long as Stokes (even with all the difficulties he was having) was at the crease, we always looked like losing.
Downthewicket
Has anyone else seen the fantastic Mickey Arthur has got another lucrative coaching job in some Canadian 10 over league as soon as the English season finishes. He can’t be short of a Bob or two. Can’t he do us all a favour and concentrate fully on these mini leagues and walk away at the end of the season
ReplyDeleteI didn't expect much from white ball this season and so it's proven. What's most annoying is that the feel good factor from our last 4 day game, the win against Lancs, will be forgotten in 59 days. Should Jewell have been given a contract for this, instead of T20? We are desperately short of batting, without Donald, Montgomery, Reece and Chappell. Also, Thomson is missed for his batting, as we now have 2 spinners who can't really bat. Stokes was just too good on this occasion and I actually thought we bowled quite well . Kris
ReplyDeleteI've ditched Groundless Optimism and moved straight to Crushing Disappointment. It'll save time later. Dave.
ReplyDeleteI was quite optimistic early season for this competition but the revised squad means we will struggler tbh
ReplyDeleteReece , Jewell, Chappell ,, Moore , Montgomery , Brown , Abbas , Donald , Hayden all not playing would impact any team never mind a club like ours with such meagre resources… not good !!
I thought about going yesterday, to see Ben Stokes. A good percentage of the crowd yesterday were there for him, not DCCC.
ReplyDeleteI decided against it. Did some stuff round the garden then went fishing and had a lovely evening. Also, the bailiff didn't turn up so it was free. Result!
Nothing is going to change under Mickey, is it? There is no evidence of our team being able to handle games under any level of pressure and it's now consistent and proven failure.
The board must be crossing their fingers ever more tightly in the vain hope that we might just put a run of games together and that we gell as a team. Personally, I have no belief that will happen now or that it is possible under the current set up.
The Chesterfield festival is now the highlight of my/ our season and, largely, more for the setting, attendances and change of venue than it is for the cricket, apart from Yorkshire's clear weaknesses when it comes to visiting us there. A win against Lancashire was welcome but only papered over the confidence cracks for a short time.
No doubt we will carry on to the end of the season and go again next, with more bullish words and hope, but ever more decreasing belief that we have what it takes to compete at this level.
Sad really, but there's far more important things in life to be concerned about.
Andy
Thank you Steve for your great tribute to Edwin Smith. I very much enjoyed watching him from the mid-60s.
ReplyDeleteWhat a signing Andersson is. Without him we would really be stuck! Guest batted well and helped lay a good foundation which we did not capitalise on. After he was out, Madsen, Whiteley and Dal rather gave their wickets away.
Bin Naeem should not come in at 7, where he is condemned to bat with the tail, but rather should be at 3 or 5 and be told he has time to build an innings, and that he will have a run in the team whatever.
As pointed out by others, having two spinners who don’t bat is an issue. The only solution with the current squad is to bring in (probably) Wagstaff or Hawkins for one of them, likely Morley.
Stolkes was excellent and I feel that even if we had scored 30 or so more, he would have timed his innings to get there.
In all, Andersson and Aitchison excepted, not many reasons for optimism. Let’s try to use this as a true development competition and give the youngsters their head.
Adrian
What a disappointment that now our bowling looks better than last year the batting has subsided.
ReplyDeleteOnly one score below 300 last year and even that was considerably more than 256.
As others have pointed out not having Montgomery, Reece and last year's Jewell make the batting look a bit weak. Also, if bin Naem is to be trusted surely he must go up the order to get a chance to prove himself.
Also yesterday I noticed that Ben Stokes did not bring Bazball to Durham and calmly won the game. Should have tried that approach for England!
It was a nice day, sunny but not too hot, and a better crowd than 50 over matches got last year, but we got the typical mid-innings Derbyshire collapse and a final total that looked insufficient. And the surreal sight of Stokes being applauded for reaching 50 while lying flat on his back!
ReplyDeleteLike Basra in T20, Bin Naeem seemed to have been played as a (good) fielder, not allowed to bat under the elders have messed up the innings.
At least we didn't have Stokes showing so little confidence in his colleagues that he stayed out in the middle when on occasion he could barely hobble. There was a lot of murmuring in the crowd about why a player should keep receiving treatment between overs rather than retiring hurt. It can't have been good for him and he could have come back out if needed. We might applaud someone struggling on when eight wickets down in an Ashes Test, but it's hardly worth it when four down in a 50 overs match at Derby. Do the umpires have any powers to say "You are disturbing the flow of the match. Go off to receive treatment"?
They absolutely do but I suggest they're less likely to go down that route with the ex England captain at the crease.
DeleteI think Stokes is probably pretty determined to prove a point or two to the England hierarchy. I thought before the game he would probably score a ton or get 5 wickets. I suspect he will be equally determined in other Durham games, if he can keep himself fit. Martin
DeleteI’m sure Stokes was determined, hence the constant stops for treatment but with his lack of
Deletemobility our inability to bowl Yorkers was most disappointing . There is a lack of cricketing nous.
I think we'd have won that game easily without Ben Stokes and that isn't such a bad sign of failure. Kris
ReplyDeleteReally disappointing. I’ve now moved from COULD win games to probably WON’T win games.
ReplyDeleteQuestions-
1. Why is Jewell not playing ? He needs to find form for CC and last season was top scorer in this tournament. If it’s salary related we might as well pack up!
2. What on earth is Guest doing at three? Key position where impetus is needed. A strike rate of 63 and only three boundaries in 76 balls is unacceptable. Puts enormous pressure on middle order and may explain our feeble collapse.
3. Two out and out spinners who can’t bat on a non turning pitch? Our best bowler from last years tournament left carrying drinks! What is MA thinking ?
4. Why did Aitchison not return until over 47 when the game had gone? Poor captaincy
We now have to win at least two of next three games or we’re gone already
How disappointing but sadly not surprising
Paul