Di Venuto on song for Derbyshire
Source -
sportinglife.com
Derbyshire cruised to a crushing nine-wicket victory over Nottinghamshire with 20 balls to spare to clinch a place in the quarter-finals of the Twenty20 Cup.
Derbyshire cruised to a crushing nine-wicket victory over Nottinghamshire with 20 balls to spare to clinch a place in the quarter-finals of the Twenty20 Cup.
Kent's win over Essex in the South Division meant the Phantoms went into the last eight as one of the two best third-placed teams.
They restricted the Outlaws to 139 for five and then coasted home with Michael di Venuto scoring an unbeaten 77 from 55 balls before waiting anxiously for the result from Canterbury.
Jon Moss scored 34 not out in an unbroken second-wicket stand of 92 in 13 overs with di Venuto to seal the Phantoms' fourth North group win and condemn the visitors to their sixth defeat.
Notts went into the game with no hope of making the quarter-finals and never looked like ending the group on a winning note.
They hit only 10 boundaries in the 20 overs and scored only 63 from the second half of their innings.
Graeme Swann struck three fours in his 17 which came off 12 balls but after he miscued a pull at Tom Lungley to mid-on, Derbyshire made sure the Outlaws never broke free.
Darren Bicknell ran himself out, Will Smith steered Ian Hunter to slip and although David Hussey and Chris Read halted the slide, the bowlers were never put under serious pressure.
The Phantoms could even get away with three dropped catches and some sloppy ground fielding although a fine throw from Hunter ran out Read for 29 from 31 balls.
Hussey had already gone for 21, pulling Andy Gray to deep midwicket, and although David Alleyne and Paul Franks batted through the last six overs, they scored only 43 runs.
Derbyshire could not have hoped for a better start as Mark Footitt had a nightmare on his county debut, conceding 10 wides and a no ball from a 13-ball over that cost 23 runs.
The second over from the experienced former Derbyshire seamer Andy Harris cost 17 as di Venuto smashed three fours on his way to a 29-ball half-century.
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