Derbyshire Falcons Captain Wes Durston reflected on the Royal London One-Day Cup campaign after his side finished on a high as they defeated Worcestershire by 49 runs (D/L) at The 3aaa County Ground.
Half-centuries from Shiv Thakor (68) and Scott Elstone (52) helped Derbyshire post 234-8 in their final group game, before Thakor (3-37) and Durston (2-27) were amongst the wickets to bowl Worcestershire out for 181.
Durston, who has risen to the top of the PCA Most Valuable Players rankings after the group stages of the Royal London One-Day Cup after scoring 380 runs at an average of 47.50, was delighted with the victory and believes his side should have progressed to the knockout stages with the standard of cricket played.
“We continued to play the good cricket we have throughout the competition and it was pleasing to get over the line in the final game and get the win,” said Durston.
“It was a very positive performance, it was a dead rubber but we wanted to finish the tournament on a high.
“I was very pleased for Shiv (Thakor) and for Scott Elstone, they both contributed with the bat and it was an important partnership between the two of them. Shiv has then picked up three wickets and Scott chipped in with two run outs and a catch so they will be pleased with their performance.
“We have won four games but in the four defeats we have had there were key times where we let things slip, we haven’t been outplayed in any of the games. The margin of victory was 50 runs against Durham and the Surrey game was more than that but we still had good opportunities to win both of those games.
“Everyone will look at the Gloucestershire defeat, we fought hard and played extremely well for most of that game and to not get home was hugely disappointing, those are the areas which have resulted in us not being in the quarter-finals.
“We have played some very good cricket in this competition and to miss out on the top four by such a narrow margin is disappointing.”
Durston added that progress has been made in white-ball cricket this year and has relished having the responsibility of the captaincy.
“We can hopefully build on how we have played ahead of next year, a lot of our white ball cricket has been better this year compared to previous seasons. It is clear that we are showing signs of improvement in both of the shorter formats.
“I have loved having the captaincy and have enjoyed the challenge. I have learned a lot about both forms of the game but also a lot about myself and the way I go about my role.
“We will have a review in the next week about this competition and about how we can move forward as a team.
“There will be some key elements that will be flagged up but we will sit down and review it while it is fresh in our minds. We will be working hard over the winter to improve in certain areas and come next April/May we will be ready to go again.”
Derbyshire return to action on Friday 21 August for the start of the LV= County Championship fixture versus Kent at The 3aaa County Ground. Supporters can save £4 by purchasing tickets in advance.
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