Rogers ton guides Phantoms home

Date: Friday 11 September 2009

Pro40 Report: Derbyshire Phantoms 198-1 (Rogers 111*, Madsen 41, Smith 37*) beat Leicestershire Foxes 194-8 (Benning 61, White 34) by nine wickets.

A high-quality innings from Leicestershire old-boy Chris Rogers ensured Derbyshire Phantoms beat the Foxes by nine wickets in front of the television cameras at the County Ground.

Rogers made 111” under the floodlights as his new side comfortably chased a target of 195 to win against his former team in the Pro40 match, and he shared stands of 99 with both Wayne Madsen (41) and Greg Smith (37*) to guide the Phantoms home.

It was Rogers’ first one-day century in this country, which seems an incredible statistic given he always seems to be in the runs. He started slowly, but once he got his eye in, the Foxes’ innings of 194-8 never looked like being enough.

James Benning was the mainstay of the knock with 61 from 81 balls at the top of the order. It was a fine effort from the opener, who held back his usually aggressive game and played sensibly on a wicket that was difficult to score on.

Wayne White continued his recent excellent form in making 34 against his old boys off just 38 balls, while the returning Jigar Naik also made a useful 18 from 15 balls as the bowling all-rounders ensured that County finished with momentum.

However, only fourteen boundaries were scored by the Foxes in total, and although the team did well to eventually post their tally, it did not overly trouble the Phantoms once their skipper got stuck in.

Earlier in the evening, Boeta Dippenaar won the toss and elected to bat. County had a bright start but soon had to consolidate after losing Tom New and Jacques du Toit within the opening six overs to Tim Groenewald.

Groenewald had an unusual opening partner in Smith, who was fronting up as Graham Wagg and Tom Lungley both had to pull out of the side at a late stage due to illness.

New started nicely with a driven four in the opening over off Smith and the recently-capped player repeated the feat in the third over. Benning also opened his boundary account with a flicked four as the knock started with promise.

The Foxes lost their first wicket by the end of the fourth over though. Groenewald, who had started impressively from the Grandstand End, hurried New into top-edging an attempted pull to debutant Chesney Hughes at third man.

Garry Park was an early change at the Scoreboard End and du Toit joined Benning at the wicket. The opener then scored another four when driving the seamer through extra cover.

du Toit became another early victim – Groenewald’s second – when nicking through to young Tom Poynton behind the wicket. That bought James Taylor to the crease earlier than he would have hoped, but he kept the board ticking over with quick scampering.

Benning was also looking to be positive, and a lofted drive just evaded a sprawling Hughes and went for four. The batsman then received a reprieve when Rogers couldn’t cling onto a slip catch off Groenewald, who was bowling a fine opening burst.

Although those who followed struggled to find much life in the wicket, Groenewald did manage to get the ball to lift off a length and caused problems.

However, he had now sent down six of his available eight and skipper Rogers, who is never afraid to be quirky in his changes, replaced his strike bowler with off-spinner Jake Needham within the overs where fielding restrictions apply.

That did the former Ockbrook and Borrowash player no favours and Benning used the situation to his advantage by crashing two fours through the off-side ring.

Smith returned as Rogers continued to shuffle the pack; the emphasis being on creating pressure by rattling through the overs with bowlers coming off short runs.

Taylor was now settled and a crunching cover drive became his first boundary. It helped the score to 66-2 by the end of fifteen overs.

A third wicket fell to the first ball of the sixteenth, though. Benning called Taylor through for a quick single but then sent the teenager back with no chance of remaking his ground.

It was imperative that Benning, who was well set, did not let the run out affect him. It didn’t, and he formed a partnership with Paul Nixon, who was his usual busy self at the crease.

Anguillan-born slow left armer Hughes was then bought into the attack to form a spin duo with Needham.

Hughes, who has played for the Leeward Islands, was signed earlier this summer after Derbyshire spotted him playing well for Lancashire side Fleetwood in the Northern Premier League. He bowled tidily in the middle overs and mainly kept the Foxes to singles.

That was also the case with Needham, who naturally benefited from being able to bowl with more men out. He kept the runs down and was rewarded for his accuracy by having Nixon caught behind.

Benning continued to play well, and moved to a 70-ball fifty shortly afterwards. The Foxes needed both he and Dippenaar to construct a partnership as the scoreboard did not make the healthiest reading at 101-4 from 24 overs.

The signs were promising as Benning used his feet beautifully in the 26th over to drive Needham through extra. It was the first four for eleven overs and much-needed as County looked to up the tempo.

A deft touch from Benning off Hughes in the next bought another welcome boundary, but, unfortunately, he fell for 61 just as it looked as though he was going to up the ante.

It was a difficult situation for the opener, as although in an ideal world he needed to bat through, the Foxes could ill-afford overs to slip past.

The dismissal was perhaps a reflection of the player being caught between a rock and a hard place. In hindsight, Benning would probably rather have lost his wicket being more aggressive, rather than looking to defend a nicely-flighted Needham delivery and being bowled playing inside the line.

All told, Needham finished with 2-39 from his eight – which considering he had to operate within the first fifteen overs – was a fine effort.

He was replaced with another offie in Dan Redfern, and with the emphasis on spin, this was a good sign for the Foxes, who were welcoming back Naik from injury into their bowling attack alongside Claude Henderson.

Before thinking about bowling, though, the team needed to post a competitive target. Dippenaar and the in-form White set about that task, and were prepared to get themselves in before looking to tee off.

They took the score to 140-5 with seven to go, but it was a pitch where you fell as soon as you looked to be aggressive. That happened to Dippenaar, who fell for 22 with the first stroke he really went for; caught at long on by Needham off Smith.

However, White and Naik gave the innings some welcome momentum at the end, with White improvising cleverly to flick the returning Groenewald for four.

The duo took every run on offer, with White also played a nice square drive that raced away for another four in Park’s last over. He repeated the stroke in the penultimate over of the innings.

The batsman was dismissed by Groenewald later that over - well caught by Smith on the edge of the ring at mid-off to end an enterprising stay - but the cause was helped by a poor final over by the hosts.

Smith started it badly by bowling a wide, and then sent down another that also went for four. Rogers then misjudged a catch running in off Naik with the ball also crossing the ropes, and although the spinner was stumped off the last delivery, the final over went for twelve runs.

In reply, Nathan Buck sent down an outstanding first over, and with Iain O’Brien also having a lively start, it was hard going for Rogers and Wayne Madsen.

The duo restricted the Phantoms to 15 from the first six overs, but things took a turn for the worse as both openers took off. Rogers took four consecutive boundaries off Buck in the seventh to get things moving for the hosts.

It was a shame for the youngster, who generally bowled extremely well. The Derbyshire openers built on Rogers’ flurry and took the score to fifty off ten.

Madsen, another player who had been plying his trade in the Lancashire leagues before Derbyshire came calling, cut three successive fours in White’s second over as the home side really got going. Dippenaar then turned to Henderson within the first fifteen overs as he looked for control.

Rogers pulled his first delivery to the boundary, but there was only a single off the next five as the spinner settled. Benning was then bought on in the next as Dippenaar continued to rotate the bowlers.

Derbyshire moved to 84-0 after fifteen, and Rogers moved to a 59-ball half-century with his ninth four – a lovely drive through mid-on.

Although the pair were batting well, Henderson is a canny operator. Indeed, he got the badly-needed breakthrough as Madsen lost his wicket in strange circumstances with the stand one shy of a century.

The opener attempted a reverse-sweep, missed the ball and Henderson loudly appealed for a leg-before. Whether you consider the batsman to be right or left handed at the point of contact is still a point of debate, but he was struck outside the line whichever way you looked at it in this instance. However, he then overbalanced and was stumped by New.

The wicket was a welcome respite but Rogers and Smith took the score to 107-1 at the halfway stage; so the chase was well in hand.

Naik entered the attack and caused problems for Rogers. He nearly bowled the Aussie round his legs, and then could have had the batsman stumped after he drifted outside his crease. Rogers regained his composure and struck two square fours to move well into the eighties.

O’Brien completed his eight overs at a cost of 33 runs – which was a good effort in the circumstances – but the target was now only just over three runs an over.

Rogers continued on his way and drove through the covers to pick up the two runs he needed for his century, which came from 101 balls. He was then intent on finishing the job quickly, and struck a six over mid-on from the next ball.

Smith, who had quietly gone about his business up to that point, then cut loose. He struck a powerful blow through backward point before ending things in emphatic fashion with a straight six.