Fri 11 Sep 2020
Seat Unique Riverside
Durham Cricket
223-2
Derbyshire Falcons
168-5
Derbyshire have named a 14-man squad for their Vitality Blast fixture against Durham at Emirates Riverside on Friday 11 September (6.30pm).
Billy Godleman is joined by Luis Reece, Wayne Madsen, Leus du Plooy and Tom Wood as top-order batting options, as the Falcons look to kickstart their Twenty20 campaign.
Alex Hughes top-scored for Derbyshire in their last T20 outing, and he’s named in the squad alongside fellow all-rounders Matt Critchley, Anuj Dal and Mattie McKiernan.
Harvey Hosein retains his place behind the stumps, with fellow glovesman Brooke Guest missing out due to a mild muscle issue, while Ed Barnes, Dustin Melton, Michael Cohen and Sam Conners all provide options with the ball.
1. Billy Godleman
10. Luis Reece
24. Tom Wood
77. Wayne Madsen
76. Leus du Plooy
18. Alex Hughes
20. Matt Critchley
65. Anuj Dal
21. Mattie McKiernan
16. Harvey Hosein
8. Michael Cohen
62. Ed Barnes
59. Sam Conners
30. Dustin Melton
Durham sit bottom of the North Group, with the abandonment of their first game against Derbyshire the only point they’ve picked up so far.
However, the Emirates Riverside team should be treated with caution, especially with the exceptional form of opener Alex Lees, who has scored 164 runs at an average of 41.00, including two half-centuries.
With the ball, Matthew Potts, Nathan Rimmington and Paul Coughlin all have four wickets apiece, but the latter is the only one of Durham’s regular bowlers to average less than 30, at 29.25.
Head of Cricket, Dave Houghton, has challenged the Falcons to show what they can do in the Vitality Blast, after a slow start to the white-ball campaign.
Derbyshire have only picked up two points in the first-half of the competition, with defeats coming at the hands Lancashire and Yorkshire, while games against Durham and Leicestershire have been abandoned due to rain,
Ahead of the game against Durham at Emirates Riverside, Houghton wants the side to remember their strong end to the 2019 group stage, and believe they still have a chance to qualify for the quarter-finals.
“Our Twenty20 campaign hasn’t gone to plan so far, but we still have the second-half of that to finish and I’ve told the boys not to be too down, because overall it’s been a good season,” Houghton said.
“Now it’s about making sure they’re upbeat about getting our T20 campaign back up and running. There’s still the opportunity to show they can do it in all formats, and they need to take that.
“It hasn’t gone to plan, the weather has played a part and we’ve taken a couple of big defeats, we also probably should have beaten Lancashire at Headingley, but if we can get on a bit of a roll in the second-half, like we did last season, there’s still every chance we can qualify.”
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Vitality Blast is back! Derbyshire Falcons return to Twenty20. Follow every game live on our match centre at derbyshireccc.com. Derbyshire Falcons: Underestimated No More.
