Derbyshire Falcons Match Preview - 11/6/21

The Running Foxes welcome Derbyshire Falcons to the Uptonsteel County Ground this evening (June 11), with both teams looking to bounce back from their respective first round defeats at the hands of Lancashire Lightning.

Derbyshire kicked off the North Group on Wednesday (June 9), as they travelled to take on a star-studded Lightning line-up. The Falcons eventually lost out by six wickets with Lightning chasing down their total with three deliveries remaining. Liam Livingstone starred with an impressive 94no on opening night.

Lightning then made it back-to-back victories to kick off their Blast campaign, as the Running Foxes travelled to Emirates Old Trafford yesterday (June 10).

Leicestershire fell 16 runs short of the target set by Lightning, as the home side’s other opening batsman, Finn Allen, starred after posting 73no off 51.

Scott Steel carried his bat for the Running Foxes on his T20 debut for the Club, posting 54no from 52 balls, with overseas star Josh Inglis posting an explosive 34 (19b) up top, followed by an exciting performance from Rishi Patel (32, 17b).

Both teams will be looking to bounce back with their first victory in the Blast to get their campaign up and running.

Watch the Running Foxes Live Through Our Online Streaming Service

Every ball of the Leicestershire Foxes’ home 2021 Vitality Blast campaign will be available to watch via our live streaming service, free of charge.

This season, the Club has worked tirelessly to enhance its live streaming service for all Running Foxes Members and fans that want to tune in and follow Leicestershire throughout the 2021 season.

This year’s live streaming service will include up to six cameras, BBC commentary, graphic overlays and will be available to watch on PC, mobile, tablet, games consoles and TVs via the Club’s social media channels.

Last Time We Met

The two teams were supposed to face each other twice last season in the Vitality Blast, both at the Uptonsteel County Ground.  However, our season opener against Derbyshire Falcons was rained off without a ball being bowled, before we succumbed to a four run loss in the second fixture.

We restricted our opponents to 147-8 in a strong bowling display - highlights were 4-35 from Gavin Griffiths and 2-29 from Callum Parkinson, both from four overs, with Billy Godleman’s 34(36b) the top scorer for Falcons.

The Running Foxes looked in control in their reply, needing 77 from the last 65 balls with eight wickets in hand, but a lack of boundaries in the second half of our chase cost us and we struggled to 143-4 in reply.

Head to Head

Colin Ackermann v Luis Reece

Both Foxes captain Colin Ackermann and Derbyshire’s Luis Reece offer all round value to their teams, frequently contributing with both bat and ball. 

In the last three full seasons of the T20 Blast (2018-2020), Reece has scored 435 runs at an average of 21.75 and strike rate of 120.17, and hit a quickfire 59 from 32 balls when opening the batting in their loss on Wednesday against Lancashire - top-scoring for Derbyshire in their 168-7.

During that same time period, Ackermann has taken 24 wickets for the Foxes including a world record 7/18, and averages just 15.79 runs per wicket with the ball - incredible numbers.  Ackermann’s economy rate of just 6.85 runs per over is also highly impressive and make him a real danger man with the ball as well as the bat in the competition.

Reece’s left-arm pace took 2-26 from his four overs against Lancashire, accounting for both Jos Buttler and Dane Vilas, and also took 13 wickets in the 2019 and 2020 T20 Blast seasons at an average of 32.38 and economy rate of 8.59 runs per over.

With Reece’s hitting ability at the top of the order key for Derbyshire, and Ackermann’s all-round qualities renowned by Running Foxes supporters, this all-round battle will go a long way to dictating the outcome of Friday’s match.

Leicestershire Squad

Paul Nixon names the same 14-man squad for the visit of Derbyshire Falcons following the season opener last night (June 10).

Leicestershire Foxes from 14: Colin Ackermann (C), Ed Barnes, Will Davis, Gavin Griffiths, Lewis Hill, Josh Inglis (wk), Louis Kimber, Arron Lilley, Ben Mike, Naveen, Rishi Patel, Callum Parkinson, Scott Steel, Harry Swindells (wk)

Match Sponsor

Thanks to East Midlands Reactive Maintenance for sponsoring the 2021 Vitality Blast fixture against Derbyshire Falcons.