Published: Sep 26, 2015, 03:47 AM (IST)
Edited: Sep 26, 2015, 05:03 AM (IST)
Derbyshire had to contend with a thrilling draw against Leicestershire as Division Two of the County Championship came to an end, with the two sides finishing in the eighth and ninth positions in the nine-team tournament. Set a target of 341 by their opponents, Derbyshire were cruising in their chase for the most part, thanks to a century by Chesney Hughes (101), as well as half-centuries by openers Ben Slater (56) and Billy Godleman (51), as well as by skipper Wayne Madsen (66). A flurry of dismissals however, saw Derbyshire lose four wickets for just two runs, and in the end they decided to settle for the safest option in order to split the points with Leicestershire. Rob Taylor and Ben Raine took two wickets each for 68 and 96 runs respectively to emerge the pick among the bowlers.
“We are disappointed not to get the win but there are lots of positives to take because I thought we played brilliantly to get ourselves into that position. To chase down that sort of a score on the last day is no mean feat and we were in the position we wanted to be but unfortunately we threw it away at the end.
“We were under a run a ball so we should have got across the line but then at the end we felt it was too much a task in the last over so we had to close up shop,” Madsen was quoted as saying after the match according to a report on ESPNCricinfo.
Brief scores:
Leicestershire 329 (Ned Eckersley 50, Zak Chappell 96; Mark Footitt 7 for 71) and 363 (Mark Cosgrove 156, Adil Ali 62; Wes Durston 6 for 109) drew with Derbyshire 352 (Ben Slater 70, Wayne Madsen 95; Ollie Freckingham 4 for 91) and 331 for 8 (Ben Slater 56, Billy Godleman 51, Chesney Hughes 101, Wayne Madsen 66; Rob Taylor 2 for 68).
