Interesting final day in prospect at Queen's Park

A late flurry of wickets saw Derbyshire set up an interesting final day in the LV= County Championship fixture against Yorkshire. 

Yorkshire captain, Shan Masood, was unbeaten on 68 but his team lost late wickets chasing 212 and closed on 147 for 6 with 65 more runs needed.

Derbyshire skipper Leus du Plooy made a superb 170 and shared a fifth wicket stand of 277 with Haider Ali who scored 146 as the home side made 453 to set up a thrilling finale.

Matthew Fisher and Dom Bess both took three wickets before Derbyshire’s innings ended when Suranga Lakmal was hit by a short ball and replaced by concussion substitute Zak Chappell.

Yorkshire seemed to be cruising on 140 for 3 but spinners Mark Watt and Alex Thomson took three wickets in four overs to raise Derbyshire’s hopes of pulling off a remarkable victory.

The visitors hopes of chasing a less demanding target quickly evaporated on another hot morning at Queen’s Park.

Although they bowled a lot better than on the second day, there were few problems for du Plooy and Haider Ali after they negotiated the opening burst from Ben Coad and Matthew Fisher.

Fisher made du Plooy work for his hundred, opening with a maiden to the Derbyshire skipper, before a short ball was pulled to the midwicket boundary.

The stand had become the second highest by Derbyshire at Chesterfield when Ali moved across his stumps to work George Hill to leg and was lbw although the ball looked to be going down.

It had been an outstanding innings from Ali who scored 100 of his runs in boundaries and with du Plooy had given his team a chance of pulling off a memorable victory.

If Yorkshire thought his departure would open the door, they were disappointed as du Plooy and Brooke Guest survived against the new ball to go in at lunch with a lead of 97.

Du Plooy reached his 150 from 272 balls and the stand with Guest was worth 67 when a ball change did the trick for Yorkshire.

Guest scooped a catch to short midwicket when Bess got one to grip but there was more frustration for the visitors when du Plooy came down the pitch and Johnny Tattersall failed to complete a difficult stumping.

Bess was hoisted for six by Alex Thomson but in his next over, du Plooy’s superb innings ended when he edged a big drive and was caught at slip.

The England spinner had bowled a lot better after a chastening second day and Mark Watt’s attempt to reverse sweep him ended in Tattersall’s gloves.

Ben Aitchison drove Fisher low to cover and after Thomson pulled Bess out of the ground, Lakmal was hit on the back of the neck after ducking into a short ball from Fisher.

He was able to walk off the field but could not  continue and was retired out with Chappell replacing him and opening the bowling with Yorkshire facing a much bigger target than they would have anticipated when Derbyshire were 17 for 4 on day two.

Adam Lyth and Finlay Bean reduced the target by 38 before Bean drove Thomson low to cover and the spinner almost had Masood first ball when an edge just evaded Wayne Madsen at slip

Lyth and Masood took the score to 63 but the return of Watt at the Lake end brought an immediate reward when Lyth was lbw going back and across to a quicker ball.

With Dawid Malan unable to come in until the fall of the fifth wicket after being off the field with a groin problem. Hill joined Masood but was run out when he failed to beat Aitchison’s throw from point.

Masood and Tattersall were steering Yorkshire home but Tattersall was lbw to one that kept low from Thomson before  Watt removed Fisher and Matthew Revis to give the game another twist.

Derbyshire concussion substitute Zak Chappell said: “It’s a funny old game at times, I was enjoying a nice Mr Whippy on the boundary and then eight minutes later I was opening the bowling!

“Yorkshire haven’t got over the line as much as they’d like to in the last couple of years and maybe that’s starting to show a little bit. It’s very much a spinners wicket at the moment, the ball is turning so hopefully Mark (Watt) and Thommo (Alex Thomson) can continue the good work tomorrow.

“It takes only one good ball on a wicket like this and we’ve seen there three quick wickets that kept low so anything can happen. I think everyone had us down and out after the first session on day one but it just shows what you can do  if you show some fight and character as a team.”

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.

Malan and Tattersall took the visitors to a batting point before the latter was caught and bowled off a leading edge by Reece but when rain arrived shortly after 6pm, Yorkshire were already in a strong position.