Derbyshire Falcons welcome Leicestershire Foxes to The 3aaa County Ground on Friday 3 June for the county’s first home NatWest T20 Blast match of 2016.
The Falcons will be looking to continue their high-scoring start to the campaign, having scored at over 10 runs an over across their first two NatWest T20 Blast fixtures.
Hamish Rutherford found form during the opening nine-wicket win over Lancashire Lightning, hitting 71 from 40 balls, whilst Jimmy Neesham made an impact with the ball and in the field on his debut for the county.
In the narrow defeat to Northants Steelbacks last time out, top-order batsmen Wes Durston and Chesney Hughes were both in run-scoring form, hitting 47 and 46 respectively.
Young leg-spinner Matt Critchley has also impressed in his first and second Twenty20 matches, bowling economically during the middle overs to return 0-19 and 2-19 in either fixture.
Leicestershire, meanwhile, have had a similar start to the campaign, winning one and losing one of their two fixtures to date.
3. Wes Durston (Captain)
72. Hamish Rutherford
3. Neil Broom
77. Wayne Madsen
5. Jimmy Neesham
22. Chesney Hughes
10. Scott Elstone
18. Alex Hughes
57. Shiv Thakor
20. Matt Critchley
23. Tom Poynton
36. Ben Cotton
7. Andy Carter
Leicestershire come in to Friday’s fixture in buoyant mood, having claimed an impressive win over Yorkshire vikings at Headingley in their last NatWest T20 Blast outing.
Ben Raine produced a standout all-round performance, scoring 48 with the bat, before claiming career-best bowling figures of 3-7 as the Foxes bowled their hosts out for 120, having scored 174-7 batting first.
Despite falling short in their opening fixture versus Northants Steelbacks, skipper Mark Pettini was in good form, hitting 43 opening the batting, and says his side are going into Friday’s fixture in confident mood.
“It was a really great performance up at Headingley, a complete performance with bat, ball and in the field, and it will be nice to take that into three tough back-to-back games over the weekend,” he said.
“While we probably weren’t the sharpest we could have been in a close match against the Steelbacks, the way we played at Headingley was more what we’re about, it was exciting.
“Ben Raine, Niall O’Brien and Lewis Hill all batted very well, and Ben and Neil Dexter bowled excellently, supported by outstanding work by everybody in the field.”
Leicestershire Foxes squad: Mark Pettini, Mark Cosgrove, Kevin O’Brien, Umar Akmal, Niall O’Brien, Neil Dexter, Lewis Hill, Tom Wells, Ben Raine, Rob Taylor, Clint McKay, Jigar Naik, James Sykes
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Supporters can also listen to live ball-by-ball commentary with BBC Radio Derby online HERE.
Derbyshire Falcons host their opening home NatWest T20 Blast fixture vs Leicestershire Foxes on Friday 3 June. Buy your tickets in advance to secure your seat and save 20%.
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