Fri 04 Sep 2020
Liverpool
Lancashire Lightning
102-2
Derbyshire Falcons
98-7
Derbyshire have named a 15-man squad for the Vitality Blast fixture against Lancashire Lightning at Aigburth, starting on Friday 4 September (2.30pm start).
The club continues to monitor the fitness of Wayne Madsen, after he picked up an ankle injury against Lancashire Lightning on Monday, and he’s joined in the squad by Billy Godleman, Luis Reece, Leus du Plooy and Tom Wood.
All-rounders Matt Critchley, Alex Hughes, Mattie McKiernan, Anuj Dal and Fynn Hudson-Prentice will all provide options with bat and ball, as Dominic Cork’s side go in search of their first Twenty20 win of the campaign.
Harvey Hosein retains his place in the squad, with fellow glovesman Brooke Guest unavailable due to being on-loan from Lancashire, while bowlers Ed Barnes, Sam Conners, Micheal Cohen and Dustin Melton are named for the trip to Liverpool.
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
33. Fynn Hudson-Prentice
8. Michael Cohen
62. Ed Barnes
59. Sam Conners
30. Dustin Melton
Lancashire Lightning are joint-top of the North Group with six points, having picked up two victories from their opening four matches.
Heavy rain at Aigburth forced the abandonment of the top-of-the-table clash between Lightning and Notts Outlaws earlier this week, meaning that Derbyshire and Lancashire will reunite less than a week after their first encounter.
Alex Davies struck a half-century at Emerald Headingley on Monday, and his 147 runs at an average of 73.50 puts him top of the Lancashire scoring charts, while fellow opener, Keaton Jennings, has 137 runs to his name, 108 of which came in a spectacular innings against Durham.
With the ball, Tom Bailey’s eight wickets have come at an average of just 8.75, meaning only five bowlers in the entire competition have a better average, and only Tom Smith of Gloucestershire (9) has more dismissals.
Ed Barnes says Derbyshire will be looking to build momentum and pick up points in their remaining Vitality Blast games, starting with Lancashire Lightning at Aigburth.
The on-loan paceman picked up two wickets against Lancashire on his Vitality Blast debut on Monday, but was frustrated when the next fixture against Durham was abandoned due to rain.
With six games remaining, Derbyshire are determined to build on their current tally of two points, and Barnes says the squad still believe they can qualify for the knockout stages.
“It’s been massively frustrating with two losses and two abandoned but it’s a funny thing this competition with games coming thick and fast, a bit of momentum and things can change so quickly,” he told BBC Radio Derby.
“That’s what we’ll be looking for, with Lancashire on Friday and then going into the four-day game a bit of momentum could be massive for us.
“There are six games to go and if you win all of them then you put yourself in with a chance. I think all you can do at this point is just take it game by game, put all your efforts in and see where it gets you.”
Click HERE for the full interview.
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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.
