Dal, Morley defy Anderson, Hartley as Derbyshire escape
Ninth-wicket pair bat out more than 10 overs to keep Lancashire winless
ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay19-May-2025
James Anderson took two wickets but couldn’t finish off Derbyshire•Getty Images
England bowlers past and present, James Anderson and Tom Hartley, took two wickets apiece but Lancashire’s Rothesay County Championship against Derbyshire ended in a tense draw with the visitors closing on 220 for 8, still 109 runs short of what had become a notional victory target.In the morning session, Lancashire had declared 184 for 7, thereby challenging their opponents to score 328 in 88 overs for victory. Harry Came made 63 as the visitors chased this target but, after reaching tea on 165 for 5, Derbyshire’s batters settled for securing the draw.The heroes were Anuj Dal, who faced 114 balls for 13 not out, and Jack Morley, who was unbeaten on nought after 36 balls when the game ended. Anderson finished with 2 for 25 from 16 overs and Hartley 2 for 38 from 20.5.Despite remaining winless after six games, Lancashire take 13 points from the match, meaning that they move off the bottom of the Division Two table, whereas Derbyshire’s 11 points keeps them in second place.In the morning session, Lancashire scored 43 runs off six overs before declaring. The only home batter dismissed was George Balderson, who was caught at third man by Martin Andersson off Blair Tickner for 9, while Matthew Hurst was 56 not out when Marcus Harris called his men in.Derbyshire’s pursuit of 329 began poorly when Caleb Jewell played too early at a slower ball from Anderson and chipped a catch to Tom Bailey at mid-on.Anderson returned figures of 6-1-17-1 in his first spell and, following Jewell’s dismissal for 12, David Lloyd and Came guided their side to 78 for 1 after 20 overs at lunch. By that interval, both batters were batting fluently and the visitors were up with the required run rate.But any optimism among the visiting supporters was dampened four balls after the resumption when Anderson trapped Lloyd lbw for 30. Undaunted, Came and the new batter, Wayne Madsen, saw off Anderson’s spell (4-2-4-1) and had added 50 in 16 overs before Madsen tickled Bailey down the leg side and was caught by Hurst for 17.By that stage, Came has reached his third fifty of the season off 72 balls, most of them pedigree strokes, but Brooke Guest could not match his partner’s fluency and was bowled round his legs for 2 when trying to sweep Hartley, who was bowling over the wicket, partly with the aim of achieving such a dismissal.Four overs later, Hartley struck again when he took the vital wicket of Came, the Derbyshire batsman pushing uncertainly forward and giving a catch to George Bell at short leg when he had made 63. That left Derbyshire on 151 for 5 with 44 overs still to be bowled.By tea the visitors had reached 165 for 5 and it soon became clear that Derbyshire had abandoned all thoughts of victory. Anderson bowled three uneventful overs, Hartley wheeled away from over the wicket from the Brian Statham end.Over an hour into the evening session, Lancashire took their sixth wicket when Josh Bohannon induced Andersson to drive a full toss straight to Keaton Jennings at short extra cover. Andersson’s dismissal for 43 was followed two overs later by a second success for Bohannon when Zak Chappell gave him a return catch.That left Derbyshire on 212 for 7 with 18 overs to be bowled and Tom Bailey struck the next blow when he had Ben Aitchison lbw for nought with 65 balls left in the game. After 80 overs Lancashire took the new ball and Anderson bowled three more overs trying to take the wickets that would seal victory. But Dal and Morley resisted him successfully.