Harvey Hosein praised the fight in the Derbyshire squad as his side ran out one-wicket winners over Northamptonshire in a thrilling final innings chase at Wantage Road.
The 22-year-old played a pivotal role in the evening session on Day Four, as Derbyshire chased down 233 runs to secure a record final innings victory at Northampton.
His measured and determined innings whilst batting with the lower order typified a battling Derbyshire performance with the bat in the face of good bowling from the Northamptonshire seamers.
Hosein said: “Tony getting those first two wickets really set the day up. That could have gone a different way and we’d have been on the other side of this result, but we fought hard and it came off.
“I was nervous when we got down to that last wicket. I checked with the guys and they gave me the thumbs up to farm the strike a bit.
“One minute we need 130 to win with eight wickets left and the next a few wickets go down and it gets a bit twitchy. That’s the nature of Day Four, one minute you feel like you’re cruising and all of a sudden you’re in.”
“I’d say that a four-day win is the most satisfying. Particularly when it goes the distance and you’ve had to go to the evening session on Day Four, it makes it extra special.
“It could have gone either way and luckily it’s gone our way, so I’m really happy.”
There were contributions throughout the Derbyshire order, including a half-century from Wayne Madsen (62) in partnership with Tom Lace (39) and a useful 28 from Alex Hughes.
The wicketkeeper-batsman backs the depth of the Derbyshire line-up and now looks forward to Derbyshire’s final away match of the summer, against Middlesex at Lord’s, starting on Tuesday 18 September.
Hosein added: “We’ve got a deep batting line-up. Anuj [Dal], is at eight but he could play as a batsman so we have got depth and even if we lose wickets we still back ourselves.
“When we were about seven down with about 50 to win, I felt like we were going to do it as long as we kept wickets available.
“I’m looking forward to going to Lord’s. I have played there once before, in an age group game, so I can’t say I’ve been there in a first-class game and I’m really looking forward to it.”
Four-day cricket is back! Derbyshire host their final Specsavers County Championship match of the season against Gloucestershire from Monday 24 September. Buy your tickets in advance and save.
