Neil Whitaker reports

YORKSHIRE Carnegie won their final Friends Provident t20 match of the season as they beat the Derbyshire Falcons by six wickets. 

Guiding them home were skipper Andrew Gale and Gary Ballance who put on 85 for the third wicket in 13  overs.  The partnership was broken when Gale was bowled round his legs by Charl Langeveldt for 55.   He reached his 50 with a pulled boundary off Steffan Jones.

Ballance was unbeaten on 48, his highest score for Yorkshire and Clint McKay hit a six off Tim Groenewald to win the match and finished on 10 not out.

Chasing 138 to win, Gale stroked the first ball of the innings from Groenewald for a four through the covers.  They lost their first wicket in second over when Adam Lyth pulled a long hop from to Wes Durston at mid wicket for 10.

After hitting Groenewald for a straight four, Herschelle Gibbs skied the next ball to Jonathan Clare at extra cover.  Jonny Bairstow was run out for two, attempting to get a second run.

In a match that the Derbyshire Falcons needed to win to make it to the quarter finals, they decided to bat after winning the toss and made 137 for seven in their 20 overs.  Opener Durston top scored with 39 and he received support from Robin Peterson who made an unbeaten 32 at the end of their innings.

The Falcons lost two wickets in two overs. First Chesney Hughes had his off stump cart wheeling out of the ground by Richard Pyrah for 14.  In the next over Falcons skipper Greg Smith played around a straight one from Adil Rashid and was bowled for two.

Durston caught by Pyrah at long on, off a no ball by Lee Hodgson on 36,  four balls later Durston slapped a wide ball from Hodgson straight to Gale in the covers.  Hodgson got his second wicket two balls later when he comprehensively bowled Clare for 10. Wayne Madsen was stumped by Bairstow off David Wainwright by a mile.

It was the Carnegie’s first win in seven games and they finish sixth in the North Group while the Falcons finish in fifth.