The Metro Bank One Day Cup continues on Wednesday as Derbyshire make the short trip to fellow East Midlands county Leicestershire for a game between two sides struggling in Group A.
The Falcons have won just one of their first four games in the competition, whilst the Foxes have picked up two wins from five.
Therefore, this midweek match will be crucial for both sides and a defeat for the visitors could all but rule them out of qualification for the knockout rounds.
Last match
After a thrilling victory over local rivals Nottinghamshire Outlaws, Derbyshire returned to action last Friday at Repton School, where they welcomed Worcestershire Rapids.
The hosts got off to an excellent start as a second-wicket partnership of 150 between Caleb Jewell (113) and the returning Matt Montgomery (92) took them to 196/1 with almost 20 overs remaining, however a middle-order collapse saw them fall short of their desired total.
Three wickets each for the trio of Khurram Shahzad, Ben Allison and Fateh Singh turned the game around as five of the Falcons’ last six batters got out for single-figure scores, which saw them bowled out for 315 in 47.1 overs.
Then, despite early wickets from Ben Aitchison and Rory Haydon, which reduced the Rapids to 11/2, opener Brett D’Oliveira brutally thrashed the Derbyshire bowlers around the ground in an innings of 138 off 118 balls, including 19 boundaries.
He was aided by 69 from captain Jake Libby and 42 not out from Dan Lategan as the visitors chased down their target with four wickets and 11 balls left.
Haydon finished with 3/59 to continue his impressive start to professional cricket but Zak Chappell, Martin Andersson and Jack Morley all conceded more than six-and-a-half runs per over.
The result leaves Mickey Arthur’s side with just six points from four games, including two from the abandonment at Glamorgan, and therefore eight points behind Worcestershire, who currently occupy the third knockout spot in Group A.
Derbyshire team news
Youngsters Joe Hawkins and Yousaf Bin Naeem have been left out of the Falcons’ matchday squad, leaving Arthur with 13 players to choose from to face the Foxes.
All-rounder Anuj Dal and Nick Potts did not feature against the Rapids, although the former has made progress with his recovery to match fitness and hit a fifty against Zimbabwe A this week.
The 29-year-old’s return may not come on Wednesday but possibly instead on Friday against a weakened Surrey team who have won just one of fives games so far.
Luis Reece, Alex Thomson, Mitch Wagstaff, David Lloyd and Harry Moore all remain sidelined with injuries so will not be involved.
Opposition news
Whilst Leicestershire have surprised everyone by leading Division Two of the County Championship this season, their 50-over performances have been less successful so far.
Wins against Surrey and Nottinghamshire sandwiched a defeat to unbeaten Gloucestershire before being outplayed by Hampshire and Essex in their last two games.
Sunday’s 60-run defeat at the Uptonsteel County Ground saw the visitors make 321/8 in their innings as former Derbyshire man Matt Critchley hit 103 opening the batting.
He was helped by a half-century from young all-rounder Luc Benkenstein as Ian Holland stood out with the ball for the Foxes, taking 3/34 in his 10 overs.
The hosts’ reply stumbled at 16/3 and, although a hundred from another ex-Falcons player, Shan Masood, and a 98-run stand for the eighth wicket with Roman Walker gave them hope, they fell to 261 all out.
Young England talent Rehan Ahmed, who scored a hundred and took 13 wickets in the red-ball match between the sides just a few weeks ago, is playing in The Hundred, along with Louis Kimber and Josh Hull, so will not be available.
However, they do have the competition’s second-highest wicket-taker in 6ft 6 inch, 18-year-old fast bowler Alex Green, who has picked up two five-wicket hauls so far amongst his 11 scalps.
Masood is in the top ten run-scorers with 272 runs, whilst Peter Handscomb and Sol Budinger have also hit centuries in the tournament.
Previous encounter
The Falcons and Foxes have not played a 50-over match against each other since 2021, when this week’s hosts came out on top by six wickets.
Derbyshire batted first and, thanks to 116 from Billy Godleman, made 275/7 in their innings, as all-rounder Arron Lilley took three wickets.
Leicestershire’s chase was led by fifties from Rishi Patel, Australian international Marcus Harris and Lewis Hill and they reached their target with 3.3 overs remaining.
Two wickets from Ben Aitchison and one each for Ravi Rampaul and Mattie McKiernan were not enough to defend their total and the result was one of six defeats for the Falcons that year, as they won just one of their eight games and finished bottom of Group 2.
Derbyshire (275/7) v Leicestershire (279/4), 22 July 2021:
Derbyshire team: Harry Came, Billy Godleman (C), Brooke Guest (WK), Fynn Hudson-Prentice, Harvey Hosein, Mattie McKiernan, Anuj Dal, Nils Priestley, Connor Marshall, Ben Aitchison, Ravi Rampaul
Familiar face
Wednesday’s game is likely to see former Derbyshire batter Shan Masood face his old county.
The Pakistan Test captain played at the Central Co-op County Ground in 2022 and was a revelation, scoring over 1000 runs in the County Championship and hitting three centuries, including back-to-back double hundreds against Sussex and Leicestershire.
The 35-year-old totalled 1,832 runs across all formats before joining Yorkshire as their captain for the following season.
He moved to the Foxes this year and has performed well so far in the One Day Cup.
Match details
Leicestershire Foxes v Derbyshire Falcons
Metro Bank One Day Cup – Group A
Wednesday 20 August
11:00 am start time
Uptonsteel County Ground, Leicester
