Critchley ton as Derbyshire battle back to take the day
A MATT Critchley century and 98 from Leus du Plooy put Derbyshire in a strong position on the first day of the LV Insurance County Championship match against Worcestershire at Derby.
Critchley followed his two halfcenturies at Edgbaston last week with 109 as Derbyshire closed on 360-8, which also included an unbeaten 65 from Harvey Hosein and 50 by Billy Godleman.
Worcestershire spilled five catches but they fought back after tea with Ed Barnard and Alzarri Joseph both taking two wickets in two balls.
Their decision to put Derbyshire in on a green pitch looked a good one when they struck in the first over but poor bowling and dropped catches allowed the home side to prosper.
Dillon Pennington was the pick of the pace attack and Brett D’Oliveira’s leg spin demanded respect but Joseph struggled on his debut.
The West Indian fast bowler was wayward in his opening spell as du Plooy and Godleman rebuilt following the loss of Luis Reece, who played across the line in Leach’s first over.
Pennington saw du Plooy missed low at fourth slip before he had scored and the South African edged the same bowler through the hands of third on 14.
Worcestershire were left to rue those lapses with du Plooy reaching fifty off 78 balls and Godleman accelerated after lunch until he edged Leach and Ben Cox took a fine diving catch.
When Pennington surprised Wayne Madsen with bounce and movement, Worcestershire were back in the game at but inconsistent bowling allowed du Plooy and Critchley to restore Derbyshire’s initiative.
Du Plooy looked certain to celebrate a century until he missed a pull at D’Oliveira and was bowled through his legs but Hosein joined Critchley to take Derbyshire past 300.
Worcestershire’s frustration increased as Leach twice saw Hosein missed on 41 and 46 but Critchley did not offer a chance and deservedly reached his fourth first-class hundred off 137 balls by driving Leach for his 10th four.
He and Hosein added 121 for the fifth wicket – their second successive century stand following their final day heroics to earn a draw at Edgbaston.
“Last week went pretty well and it was nice to build on that by getting to three figures,” said Critchley.
“I feel like I put a lot of hard work in through the winter and at the moment it’s going all right.
“We are definitely happy with our position. We see it as a pretty good day really, especially with them winning the toss. There was enough in the pitch and it was still beating the bat late in the day.
“Losing those wickets at the end took a bit of the gloss off but whenever you score more than 300 in a day it’s a very good one and getting back to the County Ground, where we’ve not played in nearly two years, it was good to have a nice first day.”
Critchley was lbw driving at Barnard, who removed Anuj Dal first ball as the second new ball brought late encouragement for Worcestershire.
Joseph had Fynn Hudson-Prentice caught behind and Michael Cohen lbw but it was still an excellent day for Derbyshire, who were playing at home for the first time since September 2019, as the Incora County Ground was used as a biosecure venue last season.