Harry Brook picked the perfect time to post his maiden fifty in T20 cricket as Yorkshire chased 168 to beat Derbyshire in a thriller at Emerald Headingley.

Brook shared an unbroken 91 for the fifth wicket with England Test captain Joe Root.

While Root finished with 60 off 50 balls, Brook’s was the key knock – 50 off 29 balls – as the Vikings recovered from 80-4 and took nine off the last over and one from the last ball.

Brook, 21-years-old, hit the winning runs in his 25th career appearance and revealed: “I went out there very relaxed. It was probably the calmest I’ve felt and thought, ‘What will be, will be’.

“I’m happy to finally get a fifty in T20 cricket. It’s been a few games.

“It’s also good to contribute to a win and get a good partnership with Rooty at the end.

“He brings a feeling of calmness. He’s one of the world’s best and has probably been in that situation quite a lot of times before.

“We haven’t been the best side chasing over the past couple of years, so to get a not out and a win is nice. I’m very happy.”

Derbyshire posted 167-6 having been 100-0 after 12 overs.

Ben Coad claimed 3-40 from four overs having conceded 25 from his first two and led the fightback in a game which had no impact on quarter-final qualification.

Brook said: “We adapted very quickly with the ball.

“Slower balls on that pitch were very useful and they weren’t really scoring off them, with Rooty and Lythy bowling out.

“Alex Hughes bowled four overs for them and didn’t go for many runs.”

This final game of the season ended a run of four North Group defeats to finish the shortened summer in style.

Brook continued: “We didn’t want to go away with another loss. It’s always nice to win and a good finish to the competition.

“We’ve been pretty inconsistent with bat and ball in this competition, and we’ve got to learn from that.

“It’s been a year to gain experience from, for me and some others.”

This summer has been one of progression for the ex-England Under 19s captain, who scored 478 runs in 14 games across the Blast and the Bob Willis Trophy, including four fifties.

“I didn’t feel like that before today, but now I feel a bit better,” he chuckled.

“Hopefully I can improve some more in the winter and go on and do better things next year.

“I certainly think my red ball game has been better.

“I’ve been consistently contributing to scores and helping the team. Even if I haven’t got a hundred, it’s been good to get a few runs.”

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