T 20 Blast Derbyshire Falcons v Yorkshire Vikings at Chesterfield June 1th

Neil Whitaker reports from Chesterfield

DERBYSHIRE Falcons completed the double over Yorkshire Vikings beating them by six wickets with two balls remaining at Chesterfield.

Leus  Du Ploy clipped  Matthew Waite off his legs for a six to win the match in pouring rain. Needing 19 to win off the last over Du Ploy pulled the first ball over square leg for six. The next ball was a wide and a fumble on the boundary by Will Fraine meant the Falcons needed eight from four balls. It was fitting that Du Ploy should hit the winning runs because in the fifth over he hit 13 to get the Falcons chase back on track.  

The Falcons,whose  target was reduced to 105 in 10 overs because of rain interruptions, lost their first wicket when  Dom Leach trapped Luis  Reece leg before and got his second wicket two balls later when  Wayne Madsen top edged him to Tom Kohler-Cadmore.

Vikings Head coach Otis Gibson said: “This is the second time we have played Derbyshire this season, and they’ve both been pretty much rain-affected 10-over games. Again, this was in their favour. But we stayed in the game all the way to the end and gave ourselves a chance. Then it came down to execution. Waite versus du Ploy, who is getting some runs. It was wet. Even though there was 19 needed, a lot but still in du Plooy’s favour.  We didn’t get it right, and the result goes against us again.

I thought we played well in the first half.  I’ve said before that I don’t like these rain-affected games, but it is what it is. We just have to move on.  We’re not going to panic about the result. We’ve lost a rain-affected game that could have gone either way. But we still have four games left. This defeat isn’t going to dent the confidence we played with last night at Durham or the confidence we batted with today.”

Leach got his third wicket when Shan Masood bottom edged him and the ball looked to be going to the third man boundary when Dom Bess dived and took the catch but in doing so he injured his knee as he fell and was helped off the field.

Gibson added: “Bess jarred his knee a couple of weeks ago. We have been managing him nicely, and he’s been going well. But he jarred it again taking a brilliant catch. We will manage him in the next couple of days.  It’s not deemed as bad as it looked on the field. He’s a tough boy as well, so hopefully he will be alright.”

With 26  needed from the final two overs the Falcons could only get seven runs off the 19th over and the loss of Brook Guest who holed out to Adam Lyth on the long on boundary.

Put into bat the Vikings made175 all out in their 20 overs with Harry Brook hitting his third 50 of the season, top scoring with 77.  For the Falcons Mark Watt took three wickets for 29 in his four overs including a double wicket maiden and George Scrimshaw wrapped the Vikings innings up with three wickets in the final over.

Fin Allen drove the second ball of the Vikings  innings from Hayden Kerr for a six over long.   Four balls later Kerr was hit for another six when Lyth  clipped him off his legs.

Allen’s second six didn’t go where he intended it to when he bottom edged it over third man.  After two overs the Vikings had scored 32,  so the Falcons turned to left arm spinner Watt who got his double wicket maiden over in his first over. First he yorked Lyth and he ended the over by yorking Kohler-Cadmore for a duck

Brook drilled Watt straight for his first of four sixes. He reached his seventh T20  fifty when he squeezed Alex  Hughes out to the point boundary and despite the best efforts of Sam Connors the ball ran for four.

He tried to drill Hughes but got a thick outside edge and could have gone anywhere but he got a couple.  He made a full connection to the next ball for a one bounce four.
 
Brook eased Watt over the deep mid wicket boundary for a six.  He drilled Kerr but found Madsen at long on.  He was the sixth man out in the 19th over, the first of five wickets the Vikings lost for one run.

Kerr got his second wicket of the over  when Waite smashed him to Reece on the long off who did well to take the catch as the ball died on him.

Allen had a life on 36 when Guest missed a stumping off Marty McKiernan but two balls he was back in the hutch when Allen pulled him to Sam Conners at deep mid wicket.

Shadab Khan brought up the Vikings hundred in the 10th over with a straight six off McKiernan. In the  next over he played on to Watt. Madsen took his second catch at long on when Fraine drilled his first shot in anger off  Hughes to Madsen.

Jordan Thompson pulled Scrimshaw and the ball went straight up in the air to Watt at fine leg.  Bess tried to pull Scrimshaw and was plumb leg before. Matt Revis under edged a pull off Scrimshaw to stumper Guest.

It is now seven years since Yorkshire beat Derbyshire in T20 match at Chesterfield.

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