Durston again leads Falcons to Foxes win
Tue 4 Aug 2015
Leicestershire Foxes’ bid to get off the mark in the Royal London One Day Cup was scuppered by a powerful Derbyshire Falcons performance at the 3aaa County Ground this afternoon.
Although eight Foxes batsmen got into double figures, Niall O’Brien’s 32 was the top score as the team were bowled out for 156 in 41 overs.
The Leicestershire attack was again led by Clint McKay (8-2-16-1) as they did their best to defend the total but Wes Durston played another matchwinning innings.
The skipper scored 88 off 49 balls for the Falcons in a NatWest T20 Blast fixture between the sides on this ground earlier this summer and made 80 off 65 deliveries today (9x4, 2x6).
Captain Mark Cosgrove said: “When you only put 156 on the board in a one-day game, it’s unlikely to be enough and the top order probably let the side down.
“If you look through the scorecard, everyone got a start but someone’s got to put their hand up and go on from there and if one of the top three or four don’t get a big score, you’re going to struggle in one-day cricket.”
The Foxes were unchanged from the side that lost to Yorkshire Vikings yesterday and the team were batting first for the first time in the competition after Cosgrove lost the toss.
Former Leicestershire all-rounder Shiv Thakor justified Derbyshire’s decision to bowl when he removed the openers in consecutive overs with Angus Robson (15) playing on as he tried to run the ball to third man and Cosgrove (10) caught behind on the drive.
Ned Eckersley and Aadil Ali were starting to rebuild but they both fell for 19 in quick succession as the Falcons took charge. Ali chopped Cork into his stumps and Eckersley was caught by Wayne Madsen leaping at extra cover when he sliced a drive at Hughes.
The Foxes were struggling at 64-4 and their chances of making a competitive total were dealt a double blow in the 28th over. Michael Burgess (14) tried to cut the first ball from Hughes but edged it on to his stumps and Rob Sayer (0) looped a catch to gully.
The last thing Leicestershire needed was a run out but that is exactly what happened when Ben Raine pushed the ball into the covers and set off for a single. He was sent back by O’Brien and was beaten by Scott Elstone’s return.
O’Brien played well but he was caught behind off Ben Cotton off the last ball of the 37th over and McKay (2) then missed a pull at Matt Critchley. Rob Taylor struck three fours and a six in another encouraging knock of 26 not out off 24 balls but the innings came to an end when Atif Sheikh (1) was lbw with nine overs remaining.
Hughes finished with career best figures of 3-31 while Thakor picked up 2-28, Cork claimed 2-39 and Cotton and Critchley ended with 1-23 and 1-15 respectively.
Leicestershire’s only hope was to take early wickets but Derbyshire had reached 24-0 after 4.4 overs when rain forced umpires Jeff Evans and Jeremy Lloyds to take the players off the field.
The delay was under half an hour and on the resumption, Durston put his foot on the gas by driving and cutting for four before pulling behind square for six. After another sharp shower, Durston recorded his 50 from 35 balls (5x4, 2x6) in the 14th over with a slog sweep for six off Sayer.
Leicestershire stuck to their task as Taylor (5-0-19-2) followed up his batting performance by bowling Billy Godleman (16) and Tillakaratne Dilshan (0) with successive balls while McKay trapped Madsen (12) lbw and Durston carved Sheikh to Ali at third man but the hosts got home in the 31st over.
Next up for the team in the Royal London One Day Cup is a home game to holders Durham on Thursday morning (10.30am start) while these two sides meet again in an LV=County Championship match on Friday (11am start).
