Derbyshire captain Billy Godleman praises young players after thrilling Royal London Cup win

Captain Billy Godleman said his Derbyshire side did not to leave as they did in a last-ball thrilling rain-affected seven-wickets win over Leicestershire in the Royal London One Day Cup.
Derbyshire's Billy GodlemanDerbyshire's Billy Godleman
Derbyshire's Billy Godleman

Godleman hit a second successive century before, with six needed to win off the final two balls, Leus Du Plooy pulled Leicestershire left-arm seamer Dieter Klein to the long leg boundary before pushing the final delivery back past the bowler for two.

It meant Derbyshire (266-4 off 39 overs) won under the DLS method as they chased Leicestershire’s 312-8 (50 overs).

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Godleman said: “A win’s a win, but we didn’t need to leave it as late as we did. Wayne Madsen and Leus Du Plooy deserve a lot of praise for giving our innings the momentum we needed.

“It all seemed to happen really quickly at the end, I was still heading back up to the dressing room while it was all going on! I was particularly pleased with our display in the field, we were missing our two opening bowlers, and a really young attack acquitted itself exceptionally well.

“One thing I’ve learned as captain is that young cricketers with no fear can bring a lot to your side.

“For myself, it’s nice to get runs but it’s nicer to be part of a side winning matches.”

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Leicestershire bowling coach Matt Mason added: “It was an amazing finish and Dieter [Klein] bowled a fantastic last over to give us a chance, because for the most part Billy Godleman had Derbyshire in control throughout.

“We were quite happy with our score, though 20 more would have been ideal, but with Duckworth Lewis it’s always tough on the side batting first, because runs required comes down but not wickets lost, of course. We fought well and we tried hard, but in the end we couldn’t get the breakthroughs we needed.

“No excuses, Derbyshire played a near perfect game and we just weren’t good enough in all departments. Ultimately we’ve been a little bit out-played.”