Derbyshire Falcons T20 Blast at Trent Bridge Win 2 pts Report

 

21/06

OUTLAWS TRIUMPH

Notts won their basement battle against visitors Derbyshire last night by the narrow margin of 8 runs. The victory, their second in three games sandwiched between the no result against Durham, lifted them one place off the bottom. Worcestershire, who lost by 5 wickets to Warwickshire at New Road, now in bottom slot.

An unchanged Notts won the toss and elected to bat in front of the biggest crowd of the season. Samit Patel’s Derbyshire were favourites to record a historic double over their nearest rivals. They lost their way in the closing stages and will be a disappointed team having concentrated their winter recruitment with T20 very much in mind, with not only the signing of Patel but with also Pat Brown and Ross Whiteley being signed.

Clarke pulled off-spinner Thomson (Pavilion End) for 6 over square leg off the fourth ball of the match and then two balls later hit him for four in the same position; 11 off the first over. Martindale, in his first bat in first-team T20 cricket, cover drove Dupavillon for four and Clarke found the extra cover boundary; 11 off the second over. Martindale hit Chappell for successive fours through mid-wicket and a lofted straight boundary; 10 off the third over. Clarke hit Brown's first ball to the mid-wicket ropes. Martindale (16) fell to catch by Fletcher running back from mid-off off Brown, 38 for 1. Nine off the 4th over. Clarke was dropped on 23 by Thomson at backward square leg off Patel who conceded six off his opening over. Clarke hit Dupavillon to the extra cover boundary and three balls later found the point ropes. Off the last delivery of the powerplay Clarke hit a four through fine leg. Notts 59 for 1 off 6 overs. A good start for Notts.

Hales hit Chappell for four through wide third man, nine off the 7th over. Patel, was giving nothing away, conceded three off the 8th over. Clarke hit Whiteley for six over square leg, 11 off Whiteley’s only over. Clarke (47 off 28 balls, 6x4, 2x6) scooped Brown to Dupavillon at short third man who claimed the catch with the ball close to the turf, 83 for 2. Clarke, clearly thought the South African had not taken the catch cleanly, but showed far too much dissent glaring at umpire Lloyd and Dupavillon before finally trudging off chuntering; what repercussions this might bring we will have to find out in due course. Haynes off his first ball hit Brown to the extra cover ropes. Notts 89 for 2 off 10 overs. Notts lost their way somewhat from this only adding 84 in the final 10 overs.

Hales, in possibly his last appearance for Notts, hit Thomson for four through long leg, seven off 11th over. Hales (26 off 23 balls, 2x4), though never really got going, and attempting a straight six off Patel he was caught by Donald on the ropes; 96 for 3. Hales heads for the riches of Sri Lankan T20 cricket having scored 138 runs @23.00 at a strike rate of 110.40 in this season’s Blast. Four off the 12th over including a leg bye. Thomson conceded six off the 13th over. Moores edged a four off Brown. Moores was dropped on 6 by Guest behind the stumps off Brown; nine off the 14th over.

Moores chipped Thomson (4-0-33-0) to the backward point boundary, nine off the 15th over. Haynes (18) was excellently caught on the extra cover ropes by Fletcher above his head off Patel; 124 for 4 in the 16th over. Montgomery reverse swept Patel for four through third man. Moores hit Patel (4-0-24-2) for six over long on, 137 for 4 after 16 overs. Patel impressing with the ball on his Trent Bridge return.

Chappell conceded four off the 17th over, Notts were getting bogged down. Montgomery hit Brown (4-0-39-2) for successive sixes over mid-wicket, 15 off the 18th over. Dupavillon (3-0-31-0) conceded eight off his final over. With three balls of the innings remaining, Moores (31 off 27 balls, 2x4, 1x6) switched hit Chappell (4 0 32 1) to Madsen at short fine leg who took a great catch diving low to his right,166 for 5. Moores had failed to rotate the strike efficiently with 10 dot balls in his innings. Montgomery (28 not out off 14 balls, 2x4, 2x6 with just two dot balls) a much more competent player against spin bowling should have come in before him. Montgomery swept the final delivery to the square leg ropes. Notts 173 for 5 off 20 overs. James 1 not out. Despite being Notts highest T20 total of 2024 beating the 154 against Northants, this was a below par total on what looked like a fine batting surface with a short boundary on the Bridgford Road side. Derbyshire’s fielding had been impressive.

Donald hit Lister (Radcliffe Road End) for six over square leg, nine off the first over. Montgomery conceded six off the 2nd over. Lloyd (7) holed out to Haynes at mid-wicket off Stone, 18 for 1 in the 3rd over. Donald hit Lister to the fine leg ropes, eight off the third over. Donald hit Stone for two square leg sixes in the fourth over; 15 off the over including two leg byes. Patterson-White was somewhat surprisingly given the last over of the powerplay

Fletcher hit Patterson-White for a straight six and then ran a single. Donald then chipped him for four over long on. The Welshman hit the next ball for six over extra cover. Donald then top edged Patterson-White for four over Moores’ head. The last delivery was hit for a straight six; 27 off the sixth over. Donald had reached his 50 in 21 balls. Derbyshire 70-1 after six overs, needing 104 runs off 14 overs at 7.42 RPO. Notts fought back strongly from this point with Patterson-White showing great composure bowling his spell continuously and taking 2-14 in his final three overs.

Harrison conceded four off the 7th over. Donald (52 off 26 balls) swept Patterson-White and was caught at backward square leg by Montgomery; 74 for 2 in the 8th over. Chappell, promoted up the order, departed for a two-ball duck, attempting a sweep shot he lost his off stump to Patterson-White; 74 for 3. Fletcher immediately requested for Donald as his runner, having appeared to have some kind of leg injury; two off the 8th over. Harrison conceded four off the 9th over. Madsen hit Patterson-White through the covers for four. Derbyshire 87 for 3 off 10 overs; half-way there at half-way house and favourites.

Fletcher hit Harrison for a straight boundary; six off the 11th over. Patterson-White (4-0-41-2) conceded five off his last over. Fletcher (29 off 23 balls, 2x4, 1x6) hit James for a straight four but then departed next ball caught at wide long off by Martindale; 107 for 4 after 13 overs. Derbyshire now needing 67 off 7 overs. Game on!

Madsen hit Montgomery (2-0-13-0) for a straight four, seven off the 14th over. Harrison (4-0-28-0) who once again impressed with the ball and with his electric fielding went for 14 in his final over. Madsen swept his first delivery for four. A wide followed then a straight six. The leg-spinner recovered well conceding three off his final four balls. Whilst Madsen was at the crease, Derbyshire remained favourites.

Whiteley hit Stone for a straight six; 11 off the 16th over. Derbyshire now needed 35 in 4 overs. The game turned from this point.

The big-hitting Whiteley (10) was caught at deep mid-wicket by James two-handed above his head off Lister, 140 for 5, four off the 17th over. The Falcons flapping. Patel (4) now more sensibly batting further down the order at seven, has now a clear weakness against fast bowling and attempting a pull shot to shortish brisk ball from Stone (4-0-35-2) he played onto his stumps; 145 for 6. Eight off the 18th over. Lister (4-0-24-2), in his final appearance of his short spell with Notts, bowled an excellent 19th over, conceding three runs and a leg bye and taking the crucial wicket of Madsen (40 off 35 balls, 3x4, 1x6). The veteran was caught on the point ropes by Harrison off a wide yorker from Lister, 151 for 7. Lister in eight appearances had figures 27-0-211-8. The Kiwi having impressive economy rate of 7.81 RPO bowling his overs in the powerplay or at the death,

James (2-0-19-2) was enlisted with the final over with Derbyshire requiring 19. Guest was initially on strike, after a dot ball, two followed, a slow ball bouncer went for one. Thomson hit James for six over wide long on. A single followed and with the game now up, Guest (7) holed out to Martindale on the deep mid-wicket ropes. Derbyshire 165-8 off 20 overs had lost by 8 runs and lie one point and one place above Notts in the Northern table. After a middling batting effort, Notts had fought back well in the field to gain an unexpected and welcome triumph. MAG

20/06

Sammy King is included in the squad this week, Willy Dot-ball Young isn't:

Ben Martindale
Joe Clarke
Alex Hales
Matt Montgomery
Jack Haynes
Liam Patterson-White
Lyndon James
Calvin Harrison
Olly Stone
Dillion Pennington
Ben Lister
Tom Moores
Freddie McCann

Sammy King

The return of the Messiah aka Samit Patel hype

Blimey, hasn't the weather forecast improved some what!!! Where's the suncream?

Pravda hasn't provided any team news (as yet), but there's no reason to think that it will have changed from the Durham damp squib, despite some of the loose bowling on show for those few overs last Saturday.

The squad announced ahead of the game last weekend was:

Ben Martindale
Joe Clarke
Alex Hales
Will Young
Matt Montgomery
Jack Haynes
Liam Patterson-White
Lyndon James
Calvin Harrison
Olly Stone
Dillion Pennington
Ben Lister
Tom Moores
Freddie McCann

The unlisted fifteenth name was Toby Pettman.

So will this game be hyped as Samit Patel's return to Trent Bridge or Alex Hales last game for the Outlaws? Either way, a win for the visitors looks fairly likely unless Outlaws have been working hard this week and not just socialising in Peter's back yard having a mental break.

17/06

The weather forecast has already improved for Friday by several notches on both the BBC and Met-Office websites.

16/06

I've just watched the live stream of the Derbyshire v Bears game. A game played on the same strip as their match against Notts and obviously same as the first game of the day today. The dire commentator said it was actually the fourth game played on that wicket, and didn't it show. Not your wham bam kaboom kind of a game at all, in fact it was quite tedious to watch (as a neutral); Derbyshire out-Samited by the visitors and an easy, routine run chase for the Bears. Not a great advert for T20 cricket. I don't think Trent Bridge could replicate a wicket such as that, so it's more likely Samit will get a warmer homecoming than the wicket today afforded him. That is if the weather forecast improves, Friday currently the worst day of the coming week according the forecasters (5 days out), but the forecast will change...

Friday will be Alex Hales last match before he swans off to Sri Lanka, as Pravda told us in March: 

"His final group-stage home game will be the clash against local rivals Derbyshire Falcons on 21 June." 

I've also been told Alex Hales gets married in South Africa in October, so might Alex not bother to be in the market to renew his Outlaws contract beyond his current deal (if his base and his priorities change), so could Friday be Alex Hales' last match for Notts?