Yorkshire Carnegie vs Derbyshire Falcons Report

Yorkshire secured a 7 wicket victory over Derbyshire after an impressive 77 not out from former Falcon's man Gary Ballance.


Derbyshire were put in to bat after Yorkshire won the toss and started off brightly with a 135 run partnership between openers Martin Guptill (89) and Cheney Hughes (50). New Zealand international Guptill, scored four 4's and five 6's in his 83 ball 89 and looked in great touch. The problems began for Derbyshire once they lost Hughes just after he gained his half century, the batsmen that followed struggled to play themselves in with no other batsman reaching 20. One of the main reasons for this was the bowling of 22 year old Australian fast bowler Mitchell Starc, who was making his debut for the county. Starc took 3 wickets from 8 overs whilst conceding a steady 28 runs, the Aussie seamer
caused problems most of the Falcon's line up and got his reward with the wickets of Redfern, Whiteley and Poynton. This caused Derbyshire to stutter in the last ten overs ultimately finishing the innings on 219 for 8.


Like the Falcon's, Yorkshire's openers got off to a solid start with skipper Andrew Gale (33) and Adam Lyth (31) putting on a 50 run partnership. However both players couldn't cash in on their good starts and got out without getting the big scores they wanted. This brought experienced Aussie Phil Jaques to the crease who hit a steady 47 from 54 ball, this freed up Zimbabwean Ballance to smash a 60 ball 77 and comeback to haunt the county he left back in 2007. Once Jaques went, Ballance was supported well by exciting youngster Joe Root. The 21 year old hit an unbeaten 28 from 24 balls with some nice scoop shots which resulted in a couple of boundaries, he also bowled a couple of overs in the Derbyshire innings and looks a very good prospect for the next few years. Despite two wickets from all-rounder Wes Durston, Yorkshire secured the winning runs with 3 overs to spare as they accelerated their run rate during the last ten overs or so.   


Derbyshire will be disappointed with the result after being in such a strong position early on, Yorkshire however will be glad to get their first Pro 40 win of the season.