Derbyshire Falcons Vitality T20 Blast at County Ground Derby Loss 0 pts Report

 

OUTLAWS SUFFER HUGE, HUMILIATING DEFEAT 

as confidence hits rock bottom

This game went very much as expected. Skipper Samit Patel inspiring his Derbyshire team to a massive 96 run victory over their local rivals. Notts who bowled well for the first 10 overs completely lost their way for the remainder of the contest. The result was the largest T20 Notts defeat in their history and Derbyshire’s T20 second largest win. Most disappointedly for a local Derby, Notts clearly were not up for the fight. Their fielding was littered with drop catches and misfields, which we all know is the biggest barometer of collective team spirit. Players can all go for crisis of confidence with bat and/or ball, but should always give your best in the field. The batting throughout the tournament has been quite frankly embarrassing, insipid and mostly lacking in spirit. Not good enough. However if you look at the bigger picture, the club’s record over the last 20 years in producing batsmen has been poor in the extreme. Lyndon and Joey Evison being the only two I can readily think of; Libby came through Cornwall’s pathway. A problem the Director of Cricket has never addressed. Sadly, there is no batsmen in the second team at the moment ready for the step up in T20 cricket.

What can be improved is team balance, either Singh and/or Patterson-White need to be given a chance in the team. They may fail, but they deserve at least a go.

An unchanged Notts won the toss and inserted Derby on a green bouncy wicket. Tom Moores appeared to have no after effects following his shoulder injury against Worcestershire. Notts bowled well for the first half of the innings.

Donald (0) was out to the fourth delivery of the innings caught at deep cover by Montgomery off Lister (Racecourse End); 3 for 1. Pennington conceded two off the second over. Lloyd hit Stone for six over mid-wicket and he cover drove him to the ropes, 11 off the 3rd over. Cam Fletcher found the points ropes twice in three balls off Pennington. The Kiwi Fletcher is a very talented wicket-keeper batsmen who trialled for Notts Seconds five seasons ago. He impressed with his glovework and possessed a UK ancestry passport, although he was playing for Derbyshire last night as an overseas player for the very unfortunate Blair Tickner, who’s has gone home because his wife is seriously ill.

Off the fourth ball of the 4th over, Fletcher hit Pennington to the third man boundary capitalising on a misfield by Montgomery, 13 off the over. Lloyd hit Lister for six over mid-wicket. Fletcher bottom edged Lister for a four through fine leg, 14 off the 5th over including two leg byes. Lloyd (22) was caught at mid-wicket by James of Stone, 44 for 2. Fletcher (19) got a thin edge off Stone with Moores taking a routine catch, 45 for 3. Derbyshire were 47 for 3 at the end of the powerplay.

Pennington went for five in the 7th over including a leg bye. Harrison conceded five in over number 8 including another leg bye. Patel hit James for 6 over backward square leg, 12 off the 9th over. Patel (16) hit Harrison for four through square leg but he fell next ball caught on the mid-wicket ropes by Young off Harrison, 73 for 4 in the 10th over. In a reprise of the Worcestershire game 24 hours earlier, Notts completely lost their way in the second half of the innings, Derbyshire scoring 122 runs in the last 10 overs, with the bowling very disappointing and the fielding ragged to say the least.

Madsen hit Montgomery for six over long on, nine off the 11th over. Harrison conceded seven including a leg bye in the 12th over. Guest was dropped on 9 in the covers by Clarke off Montgomery (2-0-17-0). Madsen hit Montgomery for the four through mid-wicket. Derbyshire 100 for 4 off 13 overs. Madsen hit Harrison (4-0-34-1) for a straight four and straight six off consecutive balls, 17 off the 14th over. Guest hit Pennington (4-0-30-0) for 4 through long leg and then Madsen ramped him for four; 11 off the 15th over. Madsen found the extra cover ropes off Lister. Madsen had raced to 50 off 29 balls, the 16th over costing 11 including a leg bye. Madsen (53 off 32 balls, 2x4, 5x6) holed out to wide long off ropes to be caught by Hales off James, 140 for 5. Ross Whitely then came to the crease and savaged fed himself on the dross that Notts served up, 58 runs coming off 3.4 overs including 34 off the last two. The left hander hit James (2-0-21-1) for 6 over long leg, nine off the 17th over. Guest edged Stone for four. Whiteley smashed Stone for six over mid-wicket. Of the last delivery, Guest hit Stone for four through long leg, 16 off the 18th over. Whiteley under edged Lister for four and then straight drove the left arm seamer for a straight boundary. Whiteley chipped Lister (4-0-48-1) for six over long leg and then next ball for a six over long on, 23 off the 19th over. Guest was dropped on 31 by Young at deep square leg off Stone. Whiteley then straight drove Stone for four. Whiteley smashed Stone for a massive six over mid-wicket. Whiteley (46 off 16 balls, 5x4, 5x6) fell to last ball of the innings caught by Lister at wide third man by Lister off Stone (4 0 42 3). Derbyshire 198 for 6 off 20 overs, Guest 32 not out of 37 balls playing a support role to Madsen and Whiteley. The total looked 20 or 30 above par against a competitive T20 batting line-up. Matched up against what we have seen so far from the 2024 Notts T20 batting it was positively off the scale. What followed was very much to script.

Clarke was caught behind off the first ball of the reply getting a thin edge to Dupavillon, Guest taking a regulation catch. Young was promoted to three, three runs of the opening over. Hales hit Chappell for four through extra cover, but once again looked out of touch, seven off the 2nd over. Young cover drove Brown for four, 6 off the third over. Hales (15) slogged Dupavillon for four over square leg and next ball hit him for four through long leg. But he fell in the same over skying the South African to Fletcher at mid-wicket, 25 for 2 in the 4th over. Haynes hit Brown for four through long leg. Young (9) skied Brown to Lloyd who took a good diving catch at extra cover, 32 for 3. Montgomery hit his first ball to the third man ropes, 10 off the 5th over. Haynes (6) was bowled making room to Dupavillon (3-0-15-3), 36 for 4. Notts 38 for 4 at the end of the powerplay. The record defeat now very much “on the cards”.

Moores hit Wagstaff for six over mid-wicket, 11 off his sole over. Moores hit Patel for a straight four, seven off the 8th over. Chappell (2-0-13-0) conceded six off the 9th over. Whiteley took a wicket with his first ball removing Moores (17) lbw, 62 for 5. A bizarre dismissal with Moores crouching down and the ball hitting him in his lower stomach. The positive was that Moores had notched up 37 runs in two games, following a run of nine innings for the first-team in all forms of cricket where he had amassed the grand total of 44 runs at 4.88. Whiteley had conceded seven off the 10th over.

James hit Patel for four through extra cover, six off the 11th over. Montgomery (17) was caught on the cover ropes by Brown off Whiteley, 79 for 6 after 12 overs. Patel went for four in the 13th over and Whiteley for six in the 14th over. James (14) was caught on the long off ropes by Fletcher off Patel, 88 for 7. Patel (4-0-23-1) went for six off his last over. Patel his normal steady self, bowling whilst Notts were in a helpless position. Stone (4) fell to catch at long off by Wagstaff off Whiteley (4-0-23-3), 95 for 8. Remember Saif Zaib, who suddenly became unplayable against Notts last week the same here was true facing the demon Whiteley who taken a grand total of seven wickets in his previous 212 T20 appearances. Yes our batting at the moment is that bad!

Pennington (5) was caught at mid-on by Donald off Brown, 102 for 9. The end came at 21:35 when Lister, a complete rabbit with the willow, lasted 2 balls before skying Brown (2.4-0-17-3) into the now dark sky, Donald taking an easy catch. Notts 102 off 16.4 overs with Harrison unbeaten on 10. The mathematicians amongst you will know the length of the Notts innings lasted exactly 100 balls. If there is any consolation amongst the car crash of a white ball season is that it is highly unlikely that any Notts player will receive a wildcard selection for The Hundred; put your money now on Notts winning the 50 over competition!

Notts who are clearly so desperate to draw a crowd have offered free tickets for members to bring their friends along to the Lancashire game on Sunday. Enjoy the ride! Coach Moores has now to contemplate what changes if any he will make. Notts have won just one of their 11 outings this season. MAG

NO CHANGE

Squad:

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

There are twenty reasons, or more, as to why the Outlaws' eleven tonight needs numerous changes from last night's twenty run defeat at the hands of Worcestershire Rapids, but will they be enough?

Coach Peter sees things differently to the rest of us, but I'm still not sure even he could find any positives to take away from last night.

Derbyshire must be favourites for this game, but often an Outlaws run of success has followed a win against our nearest rivals, sometimes they've been a scrappy last ball win. But, it's difficult to see beyond the Samit factor tonight.

Is Tom Moores injured enough not to be selected? Might that be a catalyst for a shed-full of necessary changes...