Falcons dominate Vikings to extend Queen's Park streak

Derbyshire Falcons produced a dominant performance to defeat Yorkshire Vikings by 144 runs, extending their Queen’s Park T20 unbeaten run. 

The Vikings were bidding for a club record seven straight wins in the T20 but were dismantled by a stunning Falcons batting display.

Haider Ali lit the fuse with 59 off 41 balls before Leus du Plooy and Brooke Guest plundered 93 from 34 balls to take the Falcons to 212 for 4.

Du Plooy smashed five sixes in an unbeaten 66 off 32 balls while Guest cleared the ropes three times in his 39 not out from 18 deliveries.

Ben Mike bore the brunt of the Falcons onslaught, conceding 74 from four overs, the sixth most expensive spell in world T20 cricket and the third worst in this country.

The visitors slim chances of chasing down 213 vanished when they slumped to 29 for five in the powerplay and they skittled for 68 in the 12th over as the Falcons celebrated their biggest ever T20 victory and a sixth consecutive win over the Vikings at Chesterfield.

There was little sign of the mayhem that unfolded in front of a sellout 5000 crowd when the Vikings won the toss and restricted the Falcons to 70 for 3 at the halfway point of their innings.

Dom Bess struck in his second over when Luis Reece skied a pull to cover but Harry Came responded by driving Jordan Thompson for six before pulling and steering Mike for boundaries.

Mike had his only success of a chastening day when Came went for another big shot off the last and was caught at mid off to leave the Falcons on 48 for 2 at the end of the powerplay.

The Vikings got the big wicket of Wayne Madsen in the next over when he called for a sharp single to midwicket and was run out by Thompson’s direct hit.

But the game began to unravel for the visitors with Ali cutting a short ball from Mike over backward point for six before smashing Revis over the long off boundary in the 13th ove.

He whipped Thompson into the crowd over square leg but  was brilliantly caught by Jafer Chohan trying to repeat the shot.

But from then on the flow of runs turned into a torrent with du Plooy driving Mike over extra cover for a  big six as 22 came off the 16th over.

Another 22 came from the next two overs with Guest pulling a Thompson no ball for six before du Plooy and Guest dispatched Mike to all parts of Queen’s Park.

Du Plooy pulled and drove the medium pacer for three sixes and Guest signed off with two more maximums with 31 coming from the last over.

It added up to carnage with the Falcons plundering 91 off the final five overs and the game was over as a contest when the Vikings lost four wickets in the first four overs.

Adam Lyth skied Alex Thomson to mid off, James Wharton chipped back a return catch to Zak Chappell before Dawid Malan was bowled coming down the pitch to Thomson.

When Johnny Tattersall miscued Chappell to mid on, the Vikings were 7 for 4 and former Derbyshire favourite Shan Masood joined the procession when he became Chappell’s third victim.

The Vikings were 68 for 9 when rain delayed the inevitable for 50 minutes but five balls after the restart Chappell took the winning catch to consign Yorkshire to their lowest score in T20 cricket.

Vitality Blast 2023: Be Bold, Be Derbyshire

In 2023, every Derbyshire Falcons home T20 will be played on a Friday night, weekend or Bank Holiday, meaning it’s never been easier to follow the Falcons in the Vitality Blast.

2022 saw a Club-record number of T20 wins, coupled with the Best Domestic Spectator Experience to make the Falcons Vitality Blast campaign one of the best ever, and this year’s promises to be even bigger, with an enhanced food and drink range and added emphasis on accessibility.