| LV = County Championship Division Two, New Road (day two): |
| Derbyshire 130: Dal 55, Pennington 4-36 & 286-6: Dal 85*, Madsen 69, McKiernan 58* |
| Worcestershire 185: Kashif Ali 52; Aitchison 4-40 |
| Derbyshire (3 pts) leads Worcestershire (3 pts) by 231 points |
| Scorecard |
Veteran Wayne Madsen completed 1,000 premier class runs for the season as he and Anuj Dal helped put Derbyshire back in strong contention on day two of the County Championship game with Worcestershire at New Road.
Madsen hit four figures in a campaign for the sixth time when he hit 32 and then made an invaluable 69.
The 38-year-old scored six Championship centuries in 2016, but it took the next five seasons to double that tally as his impact in red-ball cricket slowly waned in recent years.
But he enjoyed a renaissance under new cricket boss Micky Arthur in 2022 and it was his 10th tally in over fifty years, including three hundred.
Dal then capitalized on Madsen’s foundation with a second half-century of play and it was by far his most prolific season at bat.
He has now topped 700 Championship runs this summer in the number seven role after finishing unbeaten on 85 as well as contributing 22 wickets.
Unreleased 58-year-old Mattie McKiernan provided invaluable support to him as an unbroken 120 stand and 169 points were scored in an extended final session which ended at 7.10pm BST.
Ben Aitchison ensured Worcestershire’s lead was limited to just 55 with a flurry of three wickets after resuming it 141-5 under overcast skies on a pitch where the ball was still nibbling.
Gareth Roderick was undone by an extra rebound delivery which he passed to keeper Brooke Guest, Joe Leach (0) worked on the leg and Josh Baker (2) pushed forward and was knocked down.
Ed Barnard looked in good form again and, at 13, surpassed his previous best premier class race total in a 746 season set last summer. But after making 39, he presented Guest with his sixth hold of the innings by slashing a swinger outside Dal.
It was the first time a Derbyshire keeper had suffered six or more dismissals in one leg since Harvey Hosein against Surrey at The Oval in 2014.
Former Worcestershire pace setter George Scrimshaw finished the innings when Muhammad Hasnain was pocketed on the first slip.
Aitchison finished with numbers of 15-3-40-4 and Sam Conners took his wicket total for the summer to 35 with a return of 15-2-63-3.
The sun was out by the time Derbyshire kicked off their second innings, but the ball initially continued to dominate the stick.
Joe Leach made good use of the new ball either side of lunch as Luis Reece came back to a good length ball and was lbw and then Guest was launched via an inside edge.
Fly-half Harry Came looked in good contact as Derbyshire cleared their first innings backlogs with eight wickets still in hand.
But Dillon Pennington’s return to attack dealt the Peakites a double blow.
Came, 39, went lbw to a delivery that came back and then Derbyshire captain Leus du Plooy was brought down after working the leg.
Derbyshire were just 37 points clear when they lost a fifth wicket as Hilton Cartwright was bizarrely puzzled.
He failed to connect with a kick to the leg aimed at spinner Josh Baker and was puzzled when the ball bounced off goalkeeper Gareth Roderick’s pads on the stumps.
Madsen swept Baker for four to complete 1,000 premier class runs for the season before moving to Lbw on a ball that came back from Barnard.
But Dal and McKiernan swung the game in Derbyshire’s favor with a 100 partnership from just 121 balls as the stick looked increasingly simple.
Report provided by the ECB Reporters Network.
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