Billy Godleman says he was delighted by an excellent all-round performance as his Derbyshire side beat Glamorgan by 169 runs at The 3aaa County Ground.
Captain Godleman led the way with 95 on the first day – the highest score in the match – before Tony Palladino returned career-best match figures of 10-81 as the hosts claimed victory inside three days.
Martin Andersson, making his debut on loan from Middlesex, claimed 4-25 on the third day, including his maiden first-class wicket, while Alex Hughes hit his third half-century of the campaign in a dominant performance.
Godleman said: “To win it in three days, and especially after all the rain, was a fantastic effort. All the guys with bat and ball were excellent in this game.
“It was good old county cricket. The ball was moving quite a bit and the bowlers bowled in some decent areas.
“I think across both innings, while there wasn’t big scores, the guys approached it in the way we spoke about which was to, on the whole, be positive. Alex’s [Hughes] knock on the second day was vitally important to get a score on the board for Tony [Palladino] and the bowlers to bowl at.
“Tony bowled brilliantly. To be able to consistent hit the top of off stump and swing the ball both ways is a real art and in these conditions there aren’t many people better than Tony. I was delighted that he managed to get 10 at the end.
“He works incredible hard, not just on his own game but for the Club behind the scenes, and I’m pleased he was able to make the most of the conditions this week.
“While Tony is rightly the standout bowler from the match, he was ably supported by the other bowlers. Lockie [Ferguson] was incredible unlucky not to get more from the match. He missed the bat numerous times and bowled with some real pace.
“Martin [Andersson] on debut also bowled nicely and consistently at a real threatening length and they were well backed up by Ravi [Rampaul] and Alex.”
Derbyshire next travel to Northamptonshire on Monday and Godleman is hoping his side can build on the successful week at The 3aaa County Ground.
He added: “We think the wicket will be similar at Northampton. They usually leave a bit of grass on. If it is, we’ve got a successful blueprint from this week and we will try and execute it the same.
“We want to end the season as well as we can. For the last 18 months we’ve said we want to be consistently competitive across all formats and, while we won’t win every match, we have certainly done that.”
Four-day cricket is back! Derbyshire host their final Specsavers County Championship match of the season against Gloucestershire from Monday 24 September. Buy your tickets in advance and save.
