Tom Taylor comes into a 14-man Falcons squad for the NatWest T20 Blast fixture versus Yorkshire Vikings at Headingley on Thursday 3 August; 6.30pm start.
Gary Wilson’s men travel to Headingley to face Yorkshire Vikings on Thursday 3 August, 6.30pm start, before the visit of local rivals Notts Outlaws to The 3aaa County Ground on Friday 4 August, 7.00pm start.
Matt Critchley will be 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.
Imran Tahir leads a strong spin attack, which also includes Hamidullah Qadri and useful off-spin in the powerplay overs from Wayne Madsen. Tahir has now taken 200 Twenty20 wickets and has variations in spin and pace to trouble all batsmen.
Hardus Viljoen is the Falcons’ joint leading wicket-taker with 10, the South Africa paceman taking a wicket every 26 deliveries so far in the competition. Matt Henry returned figures of 3-18 against Leicestershire and he is also set to spearhead the pace bowling department, with Tom Taylor and Ben Cotton providing further seam bowling options.
The Falcons, who currently sit on 11 points, will be aiming to claim their sixth win in the competition and complete the double over Yorkshire Vikings.
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
15. Tom Taylor
36. Ben Cotton
75. Hamidullah Qadri
99. Imran Tahir
Yorkshire Vikings currently have 11 points in the NatWest T20 Blast North Group having won four and lost two matches, as well as playing out a thrilling tie with Lancashire and having two no results.
Last time out, Yorkshire were edged out in a high-scoring game against Notts Outlaws where Adam Lyth top-scored for the Vikings with 59, before Yorkshire had their 223-5 chased down.
Openers Lyth and Tom Kohler-Cadmore will be a threat at the top of the order, whilst all-rounder David Willey currently sits second in the PCA MVP Rankings, 14 points behind Wayne Madsen.
Liam Plunkett, David Willey, Steven Patterson and Captain Tim Bresnan all offer seam options whilst Adil Rashid is likely to be the main spin option, currently averaging 17.09 in the competition so far.
The Vikings have also just completed the signing of Pakistan Captain and wicketkeeper-batsman, Sarfraz Ahmed in replacement of Peter Handscomb. Ahmed averages 28.03 with the bat in domestic Twenty20 competitions, having played 120 matches.
Vikings Squad: To be announced.
Matt Henry says everyone stepped up in the Falcons’ convincing seven-wicket NatWest T20 Blast win over Leicestershire Foxes which propelled them to joint-top of the table on 11 points.
An impressive bowling performance from the Falcons led by Henry’s tournament-best figures of 3-18 and Imran Tahir’s 2-20 saw Derbyshire restrict the visitors to 104-9 in front of a good crowd at The 3aaa County Ground.
Wayne Madsen and Alex Hughes put on an unbeaten 86 partnership for the fourth wicket as the Falcons ran home winners with 36 balls remaining and claimed their fifth victory in the NatWest T20 Blast.
Henry said: “We’ve got some attacking bowlers in our unit and I think everyone stepped up today in their own way.
“It was a professional performance and we worked really hard in the areas we wanted to improve on over the last few weeks. We have slowly got better and better and I thought that showed.”
The pace bowler added: “The way the batters have been this year is fantastic and Wayne Madsen and Alex Hughes didn’t look uncomfortable at all out there.
“Every game you play at this point in the tournament is important we are focusing on one game at a time and not getting too far ahead of ourselves.We are enjoying our cricket and it is coming along nicely now.”
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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