Yorkshire v Derbyshire
Vitality Blast, North Group
Tuesday May 29, 2022, 6.30pm
Headingley
Toss: Derbyshire won it and elected to bowl
Teams: Yorkshire – Lyth, Malan, Willey c, Khan, Fraine, Tattersall w, Thompson, Revis, Bess, Rashid, Rauf.
Derbyshire – Masood c, Reece, Came, Madsen, Guest w, du Plooy, Kerr, McKiernan, Watt, Conners, Scrimshaw.
Match summary: Yorkshire suffered their second successive home defeat as Derbyshire chased 84 in a reduced eight-over game at Headingley to win by nine wickets with three balls to spare.
Dawid Malan’s powerful 50 off 23 balls at the top of the order underpinned what turned out to be a marginally below par 83-3 after play finally started at 8.35pm following afternoon and evening rain.
Derbyshire second-wicket pair Wayne Madsen, in a landmark evening for the veteran batter, and Shan Masood then shared an unbroken 69 to seal victory, with Madsen top-scoring with 39 off 21 balls and Pakistani opener Masood adding 32.
Yorkshire have now won one, tied one and lost two at the start of the North Group.
Report: Derbyshire made the perfect start as Hayden Kerr (2-18 from two overs) struck twice in the first over, leaving Yorkshire at 2-2. Adam Lyth chipped the first ball off the match to mid-off and Shadab Khan was caught behind trying to scoop the last ball of the over.
But Dawid Malan got things moving with his second successive score of 50.
He pulled two sixes into or towards the Western Terrace on the way to reaching his fifty off 22 balls, sharing 63 for the third wicket with returning captain David Willey, who finished 17 not out.
Unfortunately, the latter stages of Yorkshire’s innings lacked acceleration. They were 55-2 after five overs and only scored two fours and a six in the last three overs.
Will Fraine pulled the last two balls for four and six.
And when Luis Reece was run out coming back for two to deep square-leg following a mix-up with opening partner Shan Masood, leaving Derbyshire 15-1 in the third over, Yorkshire were buoyant.
But experienced pair Masood and Madsen calmly got their side back on track.
Both hit two sixes apiece, with Madsen celebrating his 400th appearance for Derbyshire in style and left-handed Masood hitting the winning runs.
Khan bowled an excellent penultimate over, conceding only six, to leave Derbyshire needing eight. But Madsen reverse swept Adil Rashid for six with the first ball of the final over to end any home hopes.
Magic moment: Dawid Malan viscously pulled seamer Sam Conners for six towards the short leg-side boundary into the Western Terrace to take Yorkshire’s innings to 12-2 after a rocky start and get things moving.
Turning point: You could say the opening over from Hayden Kerr was key, but ultimately Yorkshire only scored two fours and a six in the last three overs of their innings. Having been 55-2 after five overs, acceleration didn’t come.
Stat of the match: Experienced batter Wayne Madsen made his 400th appearance cross all formats for Derbyshire, his county’s 14th player to reach that landmark.
Malan was also out for 50 for the second match running having posted that against Leicestershire on Sunday. Quirkily, he also fell the ball after reaching his fifty in both games.
As the rain fell: The club announced the short-term overseas signing of Barbadian fast bowling all-rounder Dominic Drakes, the son of former West Indies international Vasbert.
Dominic, 24, has played five T20 internationals for the West Indies and has won two IPL titles with Chennai Super Kings and Gujarat Titans without playing a game – just as a squad member – and won the Caribbean Premier League last year with St Kitts and Nevis Patriots.
A left-arm seamer and a hard-hitting batter, he was player of the match in the CPL final with 48 not out off 24 balls plus a wicket.
He is due to play four Blast games, starting with Friday’s clash with Durham at Headingley when New Zealand batter Finn Allen also debuts.
What they said: Dawid Malan said – “In a shortened format, as soon as it gets to 10 overs and below, the toss is so important. To lose the toss was not ideal because you want to be chasing.
“I thought we got close enough to a good score. We probably needed another 10 or 15 to make them go a lot harder earlier.
“When the pressure is on to get 90 or 100, and you try to hit every ball for four or six, it can make you lose your shape a bit. That happens, it’s part and parcel of the game and is why it’s so much easier to chase.
“We haven’t played as well as we would have liked in these four games with the team we’ve had.
“It will be hard with people coming and going, but we have the squad depth to put in some good performances and get to those play-offs.”
What’s next: Yorkshire are back in action on Friday when they face Durham at Headingley, their fifth group match (6.30pm).
