Batting hero Matthew Fisher believes Yorkshire may need just one more win to qualify for the knockout stages of the Royal London One-Day Cup.
The fledgling seam bowler hit 24 not out from just eight balls at number 10 in the order as the Vikings chased down 190 off 24 overs to beat Derbyshire at the 3aaa County Ground in a rain-affected North Group clash.
They won by two wickets with a ball to spare and sit on seven points from six matches.
Yorkshire are currently second in the North ahead of their last two games next week, starting with Lancashire at Emirates Old Trafford on Tuesday.
The Vikings need to finish in the top three places in the North.
“We’re absolutely delighted,” said Fisher.
“We needed probably two out of three wins, including this game, to qualify.
“Getting one on the board early is good.”
Both sides lost wickets after good starts to both innings, with Derbyshire 52-0 after five overs on the way to 189-6. David Willey finished with 4-47 from four overs.
In Yorkshire’s response, Tom Kohler-Cadmore hit 81, although he fell late on and the target became 36 off the last three overs.
“We bowled pretty well after the first five,” said Fisher.
“We questioned whether we were still in the dressing room after all the rain, but I think it was just miss-execution rather than us not being ready.
“We had warmed pretty hard beforehand.
“We fought back really well.
“It’s really unlucky for Luis Reece (who suffered a broken metatarsal). He’s a great lad, and to see anyone do that in sport is not nice. My best wishes go out to him.
“Then obviously Tom’s knock was vital.
“We lost wickets at times along the chase to make it harder.
“I always back us to win with our line-up. Usually I’d be disappointed at 10, but the lads we have ahead of me deserve to be there. They are top quality batters.
“People don’t see how hard you work in the nets and how hard you practice.
“Every single one of our lads were batting in the indoor nets when the rain was coming down. Thankfully it paid off.
“We were chatting just before I went in, and I said to the lads ‘There’s only one winner here, and it’s us’. You have to have that mentality because if you go out there with any negativity, you’re going to lose.”
Willey added: “We didn’t play to our potential, but we got across the line.
“We were probably down by five, 10 per cent in all three departments, which made for a tighter game than we would have liked.
“In my first over, I bowled too short and got hit square of the wicket.
“Off the plane Monday night and playing today, so to bowl a bit short was disappointing. But I think we dragged it back and I came back at the end and picked up some wickets to slow the rate. So on a personal level, disappointed with my performance, but we got across the line, which is the main thing.”
