Derbyshire v Yorkshire
Vitality Blast, North Group
Saturday June 18, 2022, 2.30pm
Queen’s Park, Chesterfield
Toss: Derbyshire won it and elected to bowl
Teams: Derbyshire – Masood c, Reece, Kerr, Madsen, du Plooy, Guest w, Hughes, McKiernan, Watt, Conners, Scrimshaw.
Yorkshire – Lyth, Allen, Kohler-Cadmore w, Brook c, Khan, Fraine, Thompson, Waite, Revis, Bess, Leech.
Match summary: Yorkshire slipped to a rain-affected defeat against Derbyshire at Chesterfield, the hosts chasing down a revised target of 105 in 10 overs and 19 off the last.
The county’s third defeat in 10 games doesn’t affect their position in fourth place in the North Group, but the Falcons have closed to within a point with a game in hand after winning by six wickets with two balls to spare on Duckworth Lewis Stern.
The Vikings were bowled out for 175, including captain Harry Brook’s excellent 77 off 50 balls and opener Finn Allen’s blistering 37 off 17. Both hit a quartet of sixes.
But Yorkshire would have been disappointed with their total given they were 146-5 after 15 overs and scored only 29 runs in the last five, including the loss of five wickets for six runs in the last 11 balls of the innings.
Seam and spin in the form of George Scrimshaw and Mark Watt claimed three wickets apiece for the hosts in front of a 5,000 sellout crowd.
Derbyshire’s chase was then halted at 5-0 after two balls by almost an hour and 45 minutes of rain from just after 4pm, reducing their chase to 105 in 10 overs upon the 5.45pm resumption.
Leus du Plooy was the home hero with 48 not out off 20 balls, including hitting the lion’s share of 19 against Matthew Waite off the last over with two leg-side sixes.
There was concern for Yorkshire’s Dom Bess as he sustained a right knee injury whilst diving to take a catch, and he had to be helped from the field.
It is a recurrence of a recent jarring, and it is s not thought to be as bad as first may have appeared.
This was Yorkshire’s fifth successive T20 defeat at this venue dating back to 2015.
Report: Yorkshire’s innings, while including a regular flow of wickets, moved along at a pace of 10 runs per over for the first 15 overs thanks largely to the exploits of Finn Allen at the top and Harry Brook through the middle.
Allen and Adam Lyth shared 32 in two overs before the latter was bowled by Scotland slow left-armer Matt Watt, who also bowled Tom Kohler-Cadmore in the third over – a double wicket maiden.
Allen hit his first ball for six – the second of the match – before top-edging another over third, pulling his third and searing his fourth over long-off.
When the New Zealander pulled Mattie McKiernan’s leg-spin to deep mid-wicket, Yorkshire were 62-3 after six overs.
Brook and Shadab Khan, who hit a breezy 26 off 16 balls, shared 47 for the fourth wicket, and the captain also matched Allen’s haul of four sixes and reached his fifty off 29 balls – his third in eight games in this season’s Blast.
He hit three down the ground off spin and seam and pulled the other over mid-wicket, and at 146-5 after 15 overs the Vikings were in good order with the England man still there.
But he was the first of five wickets to fall in double-quick time at the end of the innings, miscuing Hayden Kerr’s left-arm seam to long-on (169-6 early in the 19th).
Kerr removed Matthew Waite later in the over before the impressive quick George Scrimshaw had Jordan Thompson caught at long-leg, Matthew Waite lbw and Matthew Revis caught behind in the final over.
Scrimshaw returned 3-20 from his four overs and mixed things up well – he was accurate and used the short ball with effect, while Watt finished with 3-29.
Shortly after the resumption at 5.45pm, Dom Leech struck twice in the second over of the innings, trapping Luis Reece lbw for 11 and getting Wayne Madsen caught behind for a duck, leaving the score at 16-2.
Pakistan opener Shan Masood (34) and fellow left-hander Leus du Plooy shared a third-wicket partnership of 62 inside six overs to put the Falcons on top.
Du Plooy hit his first ball for six over long-off against Matthew Revis before a flurry of boundaries pierced and went over the infield.
Superb Leech (3-13 from three overs) and Khan then bowled excellent eighth and ninth overs to leave Matthew Waite defending 19 off the final over, which they achieved with two balls remaining as the rain returned and fell heavily.
South African-born du Plooy hit 18 of them, including two sixes.
Turning point: The final over, bowled by Matthew Waite, with du Plooy on strike. It went 6, wide, 4, 2, 6.
Magic moment: No sighter, Finn Allen clattered his first ball – the second of the match from Australian Hayden Kerr – high and handsome over long-on for six. It was brutal. It was brilliant.
Stat of the match: Yorkshire’s recent T20 record here at Queen’s Park doesn’t make for happy reading. Since last winning in 2014, they have lost their last five games to the Falcons.
What they said – Yorkshire coach Ottis Gibson: “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. Waitey versus du Plooy, who is getting some runs. It was wet. Even though there was 19 needed, a lot is still in his (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.
“Dom (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.
“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.”
What’s next: Yorkshire are next in action on Thursday when they face Worcestershire Rapids at New Road (5.30pm). The Rapids are bottom of the North Group having won one from nine games so far, losing eight.
It is the first of another two games in as many days, with Northamptonshire at Wantage Road following on Friday evening.
