Derbyshire beaten as Yorkshire go top of group
The Australian international continued his excellent form for the county in 50-over cricket this season as they amassed 349 for seven and later returned to the top of the North Group.
Handscomb timed the ball imperiously on the way to 140 off 112 balls with eight fours and six sixes.
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Hide AdIn reply, Wayne Madsen hit 112 off 104, but it wasn’t enough as spirited Derbyshire made 334-8 from their 50 overs, although they never looked like winning.
Ben Coad claimed four for 63 in his first one-day outing of the season.
Yorkshire, who have now won four from five, have taken a significant step towards the knockout stages with this 15-run success.
This was Yorkshire’s highest List A score at Headingley, beating the 335 for five they posted against Durham last week.
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Hide AdIt was also the biggest total Derbyshire have ever conceded in List A cricket against county opposition.
The signs were there almost immediately that the Vikings were on for a huge score, despite losing the toss.
Opener Alex Lees (26) pulled his first ball for six off Ben Cotton in the second over, with Yorkshire reaching the 10-over mark at 79 for two.
Handscomb shared partnerships of 81 for the third wicket with Jack Leaning (39) and 156 inside 21 overs for the fourth wicket with captain Gary Ballance, who hit 63 off 56.
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Hide AdHandscomb has now posted at least 40 in each of his five innings in this competition, and he is the leading run-scorer with 407.
He hit his six sixes between long-on and square-leg, reaching 100 off 94 balls.
The Victorian, dropped on 135 at deep cover, was then one of four wickets to fall inside the last six overs of the innings.
He was stumped off Sri Lanka leg-spinner Jeevan Mendis, who also got Ballance on the way to two for 59 from 10 overs.
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Hide AdDerbyshire then lost captain Billy Godleman and Shiv Thakor inside the first eight overs of their chase.
Godleman was caught at second slip off Tim Bresnan before Thakor was bowled by Coad as the score slipped to 31 for two.
Ben Slater hit two fours and a pulled six off all-rounder Matthew Waite’s seamers in the 16th over.
But Waite got his revenge towards the end of the same over when he forced the left-hander to play on for 43.
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Hide AdWhen Matthew Fisher had Alex Hughes caught behind in the next, the game was pretty much up for the visitors at 87 for four.
Derbyshire’s fifth wicket was that of Mendis when, in the 25th, he swept left-arm spinner Karl Carver’s fourth ball to deep mid-wicket - 126 for five.
From there, the game drifted.
Madsen managed to delay Yorkshire with some eye-catching stroke play, most of which came after he had reached 50.
He reverse swept Carver for six and four in the 33rd over, whilst sharing a 117-run stand with Daryn Smit.
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Hide AdMadsen reached three figures off 96 balls as the score moved to 233 for five with 10 overs left, with the visitors needing 117 more.
He fell shortly afterwards as Coad struck twice in the 43rd over, with Madsen miscueing to cover and Luis Reece to mid-on to leave the visitors at 246 for seven.
Matt Critchley hit 49 off 21 balls to make the game look closer before falling to Coad in the last. Smith finished unbeaten on 77.