T20 Blast: Derbyshire pip Yorkshire to close on top four, Northamptonshire go top
- Published
Leus du Plooy hit five sixes and three fours in his 20-ball 48
Derbyshire boosted their hopes of reaching the T20 Blast quarter-finals with a thrilling six-wicket North Group win over Yorkshire at Chesterfield.
Having won the toss, the hosts fought back well to bowl out the Vikings for 175, despite 77 from Harry Brook.
Chasing a rain-reduced 105 in 10 overs, Leus du Plooy's unbeaten 48 steered the Falcons home with two balls to spare.
Earlier, Northamptonshire went top of the group despite seeing their match with Worcestershire abandoned.
No play was possible after persistent rain in Worcester, with both sides awarded a point.
It took the Steelbacks one point clear of Lancashire after a run of one defeat in their past nine matches, while the Rapids remain three points adrift at the bottom with one win from 10 matches.
Brook in runs again but Du Plooy has final say
Harry Brook has been touted for an England place after hitting eight fifties and three tons this season in all formats
Yorkshire took 32 off the first two overs, but spinner Mark Watt (3-29) checked the fast start with a two-wicket maiden, bowling Adam Lyth (5) and Tom Kohler-Cadmore for a four-ball duck.
Finn Allen smashed four sixes in a 17-ball 37, before Brook brought up his eighth half-century of the season in all formats, off 29 balls, going on to hit four sixes and as many fours in a 50-ball knock.
Vikings looked well set to reach 200, but Harry Kerr took two wickets in the penultimate over, including Brook, and George Scrimshaw (3-20) took three wickets in the last as Yorkshire's final 10 balls yielded five wickets and only six runs.
After a lengthy rain delay reduced the target from 176 to 105 in 10 overs, Dom Leech removed both Luis Reece and Wayne Madsen in the second over.
A 62-run stand in 30 balls from Shan Masood (34) and Du Plooy put the hosts on top before Leech (3-13) returned to dismiss Masood, off a stunning Dom Bess catch, to leave Derbyshire needing 26 from the final two overs.
Requiring 19 off the last, Du Plooy took a six and four off Matt Waite's first three balls before launching his fifth ball for six to complete a fifth consecutive Twenty20 win over the Vikings at Queen's Park.
A third consecutive North Group win moved Derbyshire to within a point of fourth-placed Yorkshire, with a game in hand.
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