Ben Slater hit an unbeaten 109, but was left disappointed after Derbyshire Falcons lost to Yorkshire Vikings in the final over of their Royal London One-Day Cup match at The 3aaa County Ground.
The opener batted throughout Derbyshire’s innings to record his fourth List A ton for the Club and close on 109 not out, off 82 balls with 13 fours and one six.
But ultimately Derbyshire’s total of 189-6 was hauled in by a strong Yorkshire side as Matt Fisher hit the winning runs with one ball to spare after Ravi Rampaul had earlier claimed five wickets.
Slater said: “It’s nice the get the score, but it would be even nicer to get it on a winning side.
“I think I’ve started well in this competition, got a 60 then a couple of starts, so it’s nice to have managed to get a good score today.
“Me and Billy [Godleman] over the last couple of years, one of us usually gets off to a flyer and whoever does looks to keep going.
“We were looking at about 230 and maybe we were 10 or 15 short with our score. But when you look it’s come down to one ball to spare, it shows we were not far off.”
The 26-year-old admits the narrow defeat was disappointing as the Falcons chase a spot in the knockout stages, but he now turns his attention to a big game away to Northants Steelbacks, starting on Friday 1 June at 2pm.
Slater added: “To get so close to beating a side like that with the players they’ve got is disappointing. We’d all like to have got over the line, but they’re a good side.
“Northants are a good side with some good players, but there’s no reason why we can’t go there and get a win.”
Royal London One-Day Cup is back at The 3aaa County Ground! Derbyshire will host four 50-over fixtures in May and June. Buy your match tickets in advance & save.
Derbyshire vs Lancashire Lightning – Sunday 3 June
