Derbyshire Falcons have named an unchanged 14-man squad to face Worcestershire Rapids at The 3aaa County Ground on Sunday 8 July; 2.30pm start.
Wayne Madsen top-scored with an unbeaten 76 from 49 balls in the Falcons’ opening Vitality Blast match against Lancashire Lightning. Liam Livingstone blasted 100 as the Lightning ran out nine-wicket winners and Derbyshire will be aiming for an immediate response.
Madsen will continue in the middle-order, with Ben Slater and Matt Critchley set to open the batting. Calum MacLeod scored 44 on his Club debut and the Scotland international will be aiming to continue his form into the Rapids match.
Alex Hughes and Gary Wilson provide powerful striking in the latter overs, whilst Wahab Riaz and Lockie Ferguson lead the bowling attack.
All-rounders Anuj Dal and Matt McKiernan complete the 14-man squad after impressive performances in recent Second XI Twenty20 matches earned them contracts with the Club for the Vitality Blast competition.
26. Ben Slater
20. Matt Critchley
6. Calum MacLeod
77. Wayne Madsen
18. Alex Hughes
14. Gary Wilson
11. Daryn Smit
65. Anuj Dal
21. Matt McKiernan
47. Wahab Riaz
7. Hardus Viljoen
69. Lockie Ferguson
50. Safyaan Sharif
41. Ravi Rampaul
Worcestershire Rapids arrive at The 3aaa County Ground on the back of two wins from their opening two Vitality Blast matches.
After an opening night five-wicket win over Lancashire, the Rapids secured a narrow four-run win over Birmingham Bears on Friday 6 July after another strong batting performance.
Brett D’Oliviera’s side have twice scored over 190 and there were runs throughout the order and a top-score of 51 from Martin Guptill.
Australia batsman Callum Ferguson also offers powerful top-order hitting and the 33-year-old has scores of 45 and 35 in this summer’s Vitality Blast.
Ed Barnard has four wickets in his two matches with best figures of 3-29 in the win over Birmingham Bears. The seamer will be supported by left-arm paceman Luke Wood, on loan from Nottinghamshire.
Rapids Squad: To be announced.
Derbyshire Falcons captain Gary Wilson says he wants an immediate reaction from his side after the defeat to Lancashire Lightning on Friday night.
Wayne Madsen top-scored with an unbeaten 76 from 49 balls, but a hundred from Liam Livingstone powered Lancashire Lightning to victory by nine wickets.
Captain Wilson has called on his side to show instant improvement, but he is confident the Falcons have a lot more to come after a below-par first outing on Friday.
Wilson said: “I thought Lancashire played pretty good cricket and unfortunately we haven’t played as well as we wanted. But Liam Livingstone played a top knock.
“I think maybe the difference between the two sides was that we probably left a few out there with the bat, but we were 20-2 and it’s tricky to come back from that after four overs.”
He added: “With the ball I thought we were a little bit too full looking at the lengths they bowled and on the day didn’t perform to the levels we know we can.
“We must remember that this is a new group and we have only been together as a squad for the last three or four days. I’m confident we’ll be better on Sunday and hopefully we can have an immediate response.”
Vitality Blast is back! Derbyshire Falcons host seven Twenty20 games this July and August. Purchase your tickets in advance and save from £4. Buy online or call 01332 388 101.
[twentyticket]
