Bonus points haul keep Derbyshire top of table

Lower order batsmen Anuj Dal says he was delighted to play his part in keeping Derbyshire top of the table.
Anuj Dal batted calmly on the final day to see Derbyshire over the line. (Photo by Harry Trump/Getty Images)Anuj Dal batted calmly on the final day to see Derbyshire over the line. (Photo by Harry Trump/Getty Images)
Anuj Dal batted calmly on the final day to see Derbyshire over the line. (Photo by Harry Trump/Getty Images)

Half-centuries for Matt Critchley and Anuj Dal kept Derbyshire top of the Bob Willis Trophy North Group as their clash with fellow pacesetters Yorkshire finished in a draw at Emerald Headingley.

With only two games remaining, the race to finish top of the group for potential Lord’s final qualification intensifies.

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Only the two best placed group winners from the North, South and Central advance, and Derby have a two-point lead over Yorkshire.

Matt Critchley score a patient (63 off 159 balls to help keep Derbyshire top. (Photo by Nathan Stirk/Getty Images)Matt Critchley score a patient (63 off 159 balls to help keep Derbyshire top. (Photo by Nathan Stirk/Getty Images)
Matt Critchley score a patient (63 off 159 balls to help keep Derbyshire top. (Photo by Nathan Stirk/Getty Images)

Dal said: “Just before I went in (174-6 late on day three), Dave Houghton came to me and said, ‘Make sure we’re not following-on.’

“It was an important point in the game, and sometimes batting at eight you get into those tricky positions.

“I’m pleased personally, but glad I could get the team into a position where we are still top of the league.

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“The initial plan today was to get the three runs out of the way (follow-on). But from then, the target was just to bat because we know how quickly the game can change - once one wicket goes, they can come in a cluster and the game is different.

“Yorkshire bowled quite well with the older ball and made it difficult to score. But we knew scoring would come a bit easier against the newer ball.

“Luckily we got through the gears, and it got easier trying to get to 300.

“It’s incredible with the squad we have. We don’t have that many senior lads in our group, and the ones we do have are such quality that they are able to guide the younger players through.

“It’s an incredible dressing room to be a part of.”

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Replying to Yorkshire’s first-innings 400 for six declared, Derbyshire advanced from 198 for six from 70 overs to close on 300 for seven declared from 107.1.

Critchley (63 off 159 balls) and Dal (78 not out from 115) frustrated the hosts in impressively calm and assured fashion, sharing 104 for the seventh wicket inside 36 overs.

It was Derbyshire’s best ever seventh-wicket century stand achieved in matches at Headingley.

Critchley and Dal came together late on day three (174 for six) with the 201 follow-on target still in doubt.

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That was passed three balls into the fourth day when Critchley uppishly drove Duanne Olivier for four, securing a first batting bonus point in the process.

Batting points two and three were to follow, with the added bonus being that they prevented their hosts from sealing a third bowling point which would have come with taking nine wickets.

Critchley and Dal did not encounter too much trouble from the home bowlers in reaching their first fifties of the summer.

Critchley was first to that milestone in the final 20 minutes of the afternoon, off 127 balls with five fours.

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Dal was more positive in reaching his fifty shortly after tea off 86 balls with nine fours.

The evening started with 16 overs left to accrue bonus points (245 for six from 94), and Critchley and Dal began to expand.

Yorkshire’s breakthrough came via 19-year-old new ball seamer Dom Leech when he uprooted Critchley’s off-stump, leaving the visitors at 278 for seven in the 101st over.

But when Dal drove Harry Brook through the covers for four to reach 300, the declaration came immediately to end the match.

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