Durham 283 (Clark 64, Lees 63, Stokes 53, Aitchison 5-70)
Derbyshire 127-6 (Jewell 28, Madsen 28, Stokes 2-14, Rhodes 2-18)
Derbyshire trail by 156 runs
It was always going to be, of course. Durham has a four-man international attack and they bowled as you would expect such a lineup to do. Potts and Carse were superb with the new ball, then came Stokes and Olivier, although it was probably Rhodes who was as awkward to face as any.
Derbyshire fought hard, but this isn't an especially good batting line up and anyone hopeful of a first innings lead against such an attack and on this pitch was optimistic beyond even my capability.
It ended up being a battle to save the follow-on, which hasn't yet been achieved but hopefully shouldn't be too far away tomorrow. Having said that, with a good weather forecast for the rest of the game, the portents are not good for Derbyshire getting anything from this game.
Earlier Ben Aitchison took another five wickets in a season that has surpassed all expectations, probably including his own. He is a really special bowler and a huge asset to this side. I thought Randell did well at the other end and Dal chipped in as he so often does, but the sight of the ball zipping around as the day progressed didn't fill me with optimism that Derbyshire would end the day in a positive position.
There is a lot of work for them to do to get anything from this game.
We will find out soon enough if they are capable of doing so.
It's getting to the stage that Ben Aitchison is too good for Derbyshire. I think next season could be his last at Derbyshire, and you couldn't blame him if he left for a bigger county if he wants a chance to win something.
ReplyDeleteMichael
Not quite sure how a team as good as Durham managed to get themselves relegated!We simply can't compete with them and the very likely scenario is that they will bat us out of the game and bowl us out for a second time.Ben Aitchison has been the standout for us this season and let's hope we can keep hold of him.Topspinner
ReplyDeleteAitchison turned in another great performance. Our batsmen struggled, and looked fairly ordinary against a top attack.
ReplyDeleteWhen we batted, I'm sure I wasn't the only one whose first thought was whether we could save the follow on or not.
ReplyDeleteI like Montgomery, he's going to be a real asset for us going forward, but oh my word, how bad was his dismissal? Zero footwork, not a good shot at any time, let alone when approaching close of play. Until that moment, I thought we were hanging on in there.
Well done to Ben Aitchison. A good performance in front of his dad, who was sat in front of me. Someone said that this Durham side would win division one if they had it available every week and it's hard to argue. Kris
ReplyDeleteThis is a game we cannot lose if we want to stay in the promotion hunt. It's bad luck to have to play Durham but it really is a baffling state of affairs how they're in Div2. Way too good for this level.
ReplyDeleteAgree they aren’t far off an international team looking at their line up. Find it odd we have a featherbed of a wicket all season yet when we face such a bowling line up we produce a pitch where it moves everywhere (maybe unlucky with conditions but odd choice of pitch)
ReplyDeleteA very long day at the county ground thanks to tardy over rates.
ReplyDeleteFor me, Derbyshire did little wrong but were up against a very strong Durham team . Their bowling was of a very high standard. Every ball tested the Derbyshire batters.
Madsen batted well but you could never be comfortable against that bowling.
Difficult to see how we avoid losing but no disgrace losing to a team this good.
Over by tomorrow evening this game, we can't compete against this quality. MA out!
ReplyDeleteHonestly not sure what you would expect another coach to do differently against this side, CB. Not the biggest fan of MA myself but the difference in budgets and quality made this David v Goliath. And the little guy doesn't win that often...
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