Not a bad day for Derbyshire today.
Nottinghamshire had a nightmare - where? - down by the Riverside (a little musical joke there...) and it will require a herculean effort for them to salvage anything from this match. 129 runs behind on what is best described as a 'sporting' pitch, they look likely to max out with three points from this game, leaving them within range of a fine Derbyshire display and win against Warwickshire.
As are their opponents, Somerset of course. All we can do is concentrate on winning our game and allow the rest to take care of itself. As Doris Day once said, que sera, sera - whatever will be, will be.
Everything to play for, without doubt. And with that, I bid you adieu for the evening, as a busy day beckons tomorrow.
Notts heading for 3 points barring an extraordinary collapse by Durhem. So it really is all down to the last match with us on 120, Notts on 135, and Somerset on 136. A high scoring draw (contrived or not) with Notts getting at least 10points and Somerset 8 points will make whatever we do against Warwickshire redundant. In reality we know that Derbyshire will struggle for 3 batting points, so fewer will probably do them.
ReplyDeleteExcept....
Surrey seem to be making a fist of it against Warwickshire, and if they win, could be on 127 points. That would put us back to the bottom, but would ensure that Notts and Somerset stay honest. Notts will have to play for a win as the best they can get from a draw is 11 points, which won't be sufficient if Surrey beat Warwickshire and then get at least 20 points in their last match.
So, much as it goes against the grain of a lifetime, let's all get behind Surrey against Warwickshire to make sure that Notts and Somerset have to go for a knockdown against each other. All we then need is to beat Warwickshire and expect Yorkshire to beat Surrey. Gulp.