Martin Andersson allround performance helps Derbyshire go past Leicestershire

Martin Andersson was the man of the night as Derbyshire Falcons thrashed Leicestershire Foxes by 85 runs to record their first win of the Vitality Blast season, the seam-bowling allrounder backing up a half-century with the bat by taking a career-best 6 for 23 with the ball, the best bowling figures by any Derbyshire bowler in T20 history. The Foxes, for whom Australian allrounder Ashton Turner top-scored with 53 from 22 balls, suffered a third defeat, bowled out for 145 in 15.2 overs. Following Caleb Jewell's unbeaten 58 off 35 balls, Andersson's 57 from 29 and Aneurin Donald's 49 from 24, Derbyshire made a formidable 230 for 5, just one run short of their format record. The Foxes' response was disastrous because they needed to beat their own tournament record total to win. They were three down in the first 11 balls with only six points scored. Rishi Patel was caught at deep midwicket off spinner Jack Morley before Stephen Eskinazi hit straight to mid-off and Nick Kelly chopped on, giving Ben Aitchison two wickets in four balls. Turner and Ben Cox then raised home hopes in an exhilarating partnership that added 92 in 40 balls, Turner twice clearing the boundary off Pakistan international Akif Javed and pulling another six off Matt Montgomery's offspin. After Liam Trevaskis became the sixth Foxes wicket to fall on 111, there appeared to be only one winner after Turner survived a chance on 32 but both batters died in the same Andersson over. Each batter found Ross Whiteley in the deep on the off side. Ben Green was bowled out for the third time by Andersson and Whiteley, who also caught and bowled Josh Hull and Ian Holland in the same over after not bowling in Derbyshire's first two matches. After winning the toss, the Foxes decided to go after Derbyshire, which quickly looked like a lot as the visitors flew out of the traps and scored 78 points in the powerplay. Donald cleared the ropes three times, twice off the home skipper Green, after being dropped in the deep on 25 and 44. A good grab on the run by Turner at mid-on finally removed Donald but Derbyshire continued apace, Andersson uppercutting for six as he raced to a 22-ball fifty and the Falcons reached halfway at 120 for 1. Derbyshire was limited to 35 runs in the subsequent five overs as the home team regained some ground. Turner had Andersson caught at deep point, then Holland took two in two, bowling Wayne Madsen with a leg-stump yorker and dismissing Whiteley with a brilliant one-handed return catch. However, Montgomery's 27 runs off 13 balls provided additional momentum before Jewell hit a free hit to clear the long-on rope and score 24 runs in a single Ben Mike over. Ben Green's final over went for 19 runs, putting Derbyshire 75 runs short of their previous record of 231 runs against the same opponents at Derby in 2023.