Derbyshire Falcons Captain Wes Durston is hoping a remarkable red ball comeback will put Derbyshire’s white ball campaign back on track against Northamptonshire Steelbacks tomorrow night; 6.30pm start.
Derbyshire bounced back from the five-run NatWest T20 Blast loss to Durham last Friday by defeating Kent inside three days in the LV= County Championship despite being bowled out for 86 in their first innings.
The Falcons head for Northampton tomorrow with renewed confidence following their eight-wicket win at Canterbury and Durston said it was a welcome victory.
“It was a phenomenal result after the way things were sitting after Day One and we really pulled it out of the hat,” said Durston.
“After last Friday’s disappointment, we needed this victory and a lot of people who played in this game will be involved in the next couple of T20’s so we’re now looking forward to these next two games on the back of a strong win down in Kent.”
Durston admits the team failed to capitalise on a good opportunity to record a win against Durham ahead of a match where both sides will be looking to get points on the board in a bid to climb the league table.
“We should have won that game from the position we were in and the way we bowled and the start we made with the bat.
“Other than the fact we didn’t get any partnerships together it’s hard to explain what went wrong. We need to draw a line under it, we have analysed certain areas of the game and told ourselves it can’t happen again.
“We bowled well like we did the previous week and were going well at the start of the power-play but for some reason the scoreboard slowed up, we didn’t keep it ticking over and the pressure built up.”
Northamptonshire are bottom of the group after three defeats but Durston is predicting a stern test from a team packed full of big-hitting batsmen, accompanied by some handy bowling options.
“This division has proven already that teams are beating each other so nothing is a given.
“We played them in a T20 warm-up game which we won off the last ball. We know they have a very dangerous batting line-up and we will have to be at the top of our game.
“We are developing as a T20 side and the more games we play the more experienced we will become, we just have to learn quickly in this North Group because it is a very competitive one.”
Derbyshire are back in home NatWest T20 Blast action on Thursday 18 June when they welcome Leicestershire Foxes to The 3aaa County Ground.
