It’s just four days until Derbyshire Falcons host their opening home NatWest T20 Blast fixture of the season; versus Leicestershire Foxes on Friday 3 June.
Four is the number of NatWest T20 Blast wins that the Falcons secured at home during the 2015 campaign, with three of those coming against local rivals.
The Falcons got their 2015 home campaign off to the perfect start, beating Lancashire Lightning in front of the Sky Sports cameras, and will be looking to begin in similar fashion with the visit of Leicestershire Foxes on Friday 3 June.
In the 2015 win over Lancashire, Derbyshire restricted Lancashire to 127-9 from their 20 overs, with Tony Palladino (2-22) and Ben Cotton (2-28) both claiming two wickets apiece, before overseas stars Hashim Amla and Tillakaratne Dilshan led their side to victory with 51 and 38 respectively.
Friday’s visitors, Leicestershire Foxes, will be after revenge having suffered a 17-run defeat at Derby in the 2015 competition, with Wes Durston blasting 88 from just 49 balls as the hosts racked up 189-7 batting first.
The Foxes fell 17 runs short, with the wickets shared between the Falcons attack as they picked up their second win at The 3aaa County Ground of the campaign.
Fellow East Midlands rivals, Notts Outlaws, also tasted defeat when they visited Derby in 2015, as the Falcons hit their highest first-innings score in Twenty20 cricket of 201-7, before defending it with ease to secure a 34-run win.
Hamish Rutherford got the innings off to a good start with a quick-fire 37, whilst Chesney Hughes hit a half-centur,y before Nathan Rimmington took 3-24 to help bowl the Outlaws out for 167 in reply.
The fourth and final win came via a famous victory over Yorkshire Vikings at a sold-out Queen’s Park, Chesterfield in July – and the fixture between the two sides at Chesterfield is heading for another sell-out this year.
Captain Durston was the star with the ball in the four-wicket win in 2015, taking the wickets of all three of the Vikings’ top three, before Rutherford (40) and Wayne Madsen (41) ensured the Falcons tasted a sweet victory over their local rivals to complete the 2015 Chesterfield Festival of Cricket.
Derbyshire Falcons host their opening home NatWest T20 Blast fixture vs Leicestershire Foxes on Friday 3 June. Buy your tickets in advance to secure your seat and save 20%.
Leicestershire Foxes – Fri 3 June – BUY
Birmingham Bears – Fri 17 June – BUY
Notts Outlaws – Fri 24 June – BUY
Northants Steelbacks – Sun 3 July – BUY
Yorkshire Vikings – Sun 10 July – BUY
Lancashire Lightning – Wed 13 July – BUY
Worcestershire Rapids – Fri 22 July – BUY
