We can still make last eight
Source -
mysporttoday.co.uk
It's do or die now – that's Yorkshire wicketkeeper Gerard Brophy's assessment as the Tykes wind up their last games in the divisional section of the Twenty20 Cup over the next two days.
Yorkshire had put themselves in the driving seat for an automatic place in the last eight following an impressive win over Lancashire at Old Trafford on Friday.
Anthony McGrath hit his first Twenty20 50 as the Tykes won by 15 runs.
But David Byas's side shot themselves in the foot the following day with a disappointing defeat at the hands of Leicestershire at Headingley Carnegie.
Michael Lumb hit an impressive 66 but Yorkshire ended up 22 runs short chasing a winning target of 156 in a comprehensive defeat.
And nothing less than a maximum haul at Derby tonight and in the return against Lancashire at Headingley tomorrow will earn Yorkshire a passage to the quarter-finals of the competition for the first time in four seasons.
Brophy said: "We've really nothing to lose now, and everything to gain.
"We'll be giving it our best shot to get into the quarter-finals and everyone at the club knows we can win our final two matches.
"But we've made it difficult for ourselves and it will be a real test for us now.
"The feeling around the club is that we can still do it but we really wanted to beat Leicestershire so that we'd only have to win one more game, but it wasn't to be."
The top two sides in the the North, South and Mid/West/Wales divisions qualify automatically for the last eight, along with the two third-placed clubs with the best records.
That would seem to be Yorkshire's best hope, although they would still need to win both their matches and with Lancashire also on six points with the Tykes, a battle royal could be on the cards when the two old rivals go head to head tomorrow night.
Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire would seem to have the two automatic places sewn up as they currently boast 10 points from their games. Brophy added: "I think we've played some good cricket this time in the Twenty20, and we can take that into our league form.
"Last season the cup interrupted our rhythm and our form suffered later on, but this time it can hopefully help to kickstart our season. "You don't really have time to think about your game in Twenty20, things happen so quickly, and I think that's been good for us in a way."
Yorkshire are back in business in the County Championship on Friday against Durham and Brophy, who joined the club in the close season from Northants, is keen to show his true colours with the bat to aid the Tykes in their battle against the drop.
He added: "My form with the bat so far has been disappointing – to say the least. "I don't think there's added pressure on me as such, I just haven't performed.
"But I'm pretty hopeful it will come right and hopefully I can still get up to 500-600 runs in the season. Some guys try to hit themselves out of trouble but I have a game plan that has served me for 12 years and if I stick with it, hopefully it will come right for me."
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