Luis Reece says the blistering 101 from just 43 deliveries from Shahid Afridi took the NatWest T20 Blast quarter-final away from Derbyshire, but praised the progress made by the Falcons.
A record-breaking campaign came to an end with defeat to Hampshire in front of a good crowd at The 3aaa County Ground. Afridi top-scored as the visitors posted 249-8 and Derbyshire were all out for 148 in reply, bowing out of the competition with a Club-record eight wins.
Reece said: “Unfortunately it wasn’t our night. We came up against Shahid Afridi when he was hot and his innings pretty much won them the game. It was a great knock from him and when someone hits 100 off 40 balls, you are always on the back foot.
“We tried to make the most of the powerplay, maybe in hindsight we went a little too hard, but when you are chasing 250 you would rather die trying going hard and give it a good crack. But 250 is always going to be a tough chase and it just wasn’t our night.
The 27-year-old added: “But it’s been a great competition as a whole for Derbyshire. We’ve made some great strides forward this year and reached our first quarter-final in 12 years. Hopefully we can use this and build on it for years to come.
“We had a sell out in Derby, unfortunately it’s not gone our way, but we earned the right to get here. We played some great cricket all tournament and deserved to get a home quarter-final, but unfortunately we just came across a Hampshire side who were really hot.
“This will live long in the memory for our players and we will use it for the years to come and hopefully get regular quarter-final appearances and beyond that.”
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