Masood says Falcons are itching to put things right

Shan Masood says the Falcons will be itching to put things right against Leicestershire Foxes on Thursday, after the Falcons were defeated by Northants Steelbacks. 

Derbyshire were beaten by five wickets at the County Ground, Northampton, after setting the hosts a target of 152, as Josh Cobb struck a powerful 70.

With two wins and four defeats from their opening six Vitality Blast games, with the back-to-back fixtures against Leicestershire Foxes (home) on Thursday and Worcestershire Rapids (away) Friday crucial to Derbyshire’s chances of progressing.

Masood says Derbyshire are eager to turn around their form in this week’s remaining fixtures, and says the intense nature of the schedule could prove a blessing for the Falcons.

“We know the value of each and every game that comes along,” he added.

“It’s good [having little time between game], because when results aren’t going your way, it gives you the chance to put it right quickly. It’s all about momentum, if we can get the next two results, it puts us in a good place for the back-end of the competition.

“So we’ll take it day-by-day and come back on Thursday, put in a really good performance. This is not the end of the world, we’re on the right track and we need to keep believing.”

Reflecting on the defeat to Northants Steelbacks, Masood admits the performance was not what the team hoped for, but there were positives to take into the remaining games.

“It was a heavy defeat, when you win the toss and bat first, you don’t expect to lose your top-order that early,”

“I though we brought it back well to the 17th over, when Wayne and Yoz were batting and the score was at 130, but we couldn’t finish it off, you’d normally expect 30 or 40 runs from those last few overs.

“We expected the pitch to be a flat one, but considering how it played, I think 170/175 would have been a good score. In hindsight, everything is clear, but if I were to bat again, you want to play smart and get to 175.

“With the ball, we got the early wicket of Chris Lynn and we’d talked about getting the bigger players out, but I have to compliment the way Josh Cobb played. In every game so far, it’s been one player who has made a score and that’s what we need to stop.

“Overall, I think we bowled quite well, but when you only post a score of 150, you need a near-perfect bowling display and you can’t be too hard on the bowlers after that.”

Vitality Blast 2022 – Tickets on sale now!

Tickets for all of Derbyshire’s Vitality Blast fixtures are on sale now.

The Falcons will be aiming to extend their Vitality Blast winning streak at Queen’s Park to four matches, when they take on Yorkshire Vikings to close out the BRM Solicitors Festival of Cricket, in association with Chesterfield Borough Council, on Saturday 18 June.