Derbyshire Falcons have named a 14-man squad for the NatWest T20 Blast fixture versus Notts Outlaws at The 3aaa County Ground on Friday 4 August; 7pm start.
Tickets will be available on the gate for tonight’s big local derby, with gates opening at 5pm.
Gary Wilson’s men welcome the Outlaws to Derby where they seek revenge having been narrowly beaten by five runs in a high-scoring thriller at Trent Bridge earlier in the competition.
Wayne Madsen hit an unbeaten 86 in the reverse fixture and will be looking to continue his run of good form after being voted the Professional Cricketers’ Association Fan’s Player of the Month for July.
The Falcons enter the fixture off the back of a five-wicket win away at Yorkshire on Thursday night. The result has moved Derbyshire to the top of the North Group.
There’s only one change to the squad that faced Yorkshire at Headingley, as Greg Cork comes in to replace Tom Taylor.
Matt Critchley remains unavailable for the fixture after being diagnosed with mild concussion following a blow to the head in the victory over Leicestershire Foxes on Sunday. He is being monitored by the Club’s medical staff through the ECB Return to Play protocol.
Matt Henry took 3-18 in the Falcons’ seven-wicket victory over the Foxes and will lead the pace attack alongside Hardus Viljoen and Ben Cotton.
The Falcons are yet to be defeated in Derby having beaten Lancashire Lightning by 35 runs and Leicestershire Foxes by seven-wickets in the two completed games so far.
1. Billy Godleman
10. Luis Reece
23. Tom Wood
77. Wayne Madsen
18. Alex Hughes
9. Gary Wilson
2. Callum Brodrick
11. Daryn Smit
21. Matt Henry
7. Hardus Viljoen
14. Greg Cork
36. Ben Cotton
75. Hamidullah Qadri
99. Imran Tahir
Notts Outlaws head to Derby on the back of a washed out NatWest T20 Blast fixture versus Leicestershire Foxes on Wednesday 2 August.
So far in the competition, the Outlaws have won four out of nine, with two no results and three defeats.
England opener, Alex Hales will be looking to continue his fine form after striking 51 against Leicestershire and in the previous game notching a century against Yorkshire Vikings.
Hales, Riki Wessels and Tom Moores all offer firepower at the top of the order, whilst the likes of Brendan Taylor and Samit Patel pack a good middle order.
Notts’ leading wicket taker Harry Gurney will be the main seam option alongside pacemen Jake Ball and Luke Wood. Samit Patel and Ish Sodhi offer variations in spin.
Outlaws Squad: Brendan Taylor, Steven Mullaney, Riki Wessels, Alex Hales, Samit Patel, Tom Moores, Billy Root, Dan Christian, Harry Gurney, Brett Hutton, Luke Wood, Jake Ball, Ish Sodhi.
Matt Henry took 3-18 in front of a good crowd against Leicestershire Foxes and the New Zealand pace bowler wants to see more fan support at The 3aaa County Ground for the local derby.
Derbyshire put in all-round performances against Lancashire Lightning and Leicestershire Foxes in Derby and Henry was quick to praise both the batting and bowling units heading into the fixture.
He said: “I think we’re making good inroads and playing well as a group, slowly game by game we’re getting better. As a bowling unit we’re gelling well and I think the game against Leicestershire was a good example of that.
“The batters have been unbelievable in this whole tournament, they’ve been really consistent and played a really good brand of cricket. The exciting thing for us is different people stepping up at different times.”
The 25-year-old added: “Hopefully we can keep that momentum going forward and having the home crowd behind us is always good. The crowds so far have been brilliant and they’ve all been behind us.”
NatWest T20 Blast is back this July and August. Save £4 by purchasing your matchday tickets in advance. While further discounts are available for groups of 10 or more. Buy online today to secure your place and save.
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