Two of the stragglers in Division Two of the Specsavers County Championship go up against each other in the last of the current round of matches to begin on Monday when Derbyshire host Northamptonshire at Chesterfield.
I say they host them at Chesterfield, I should probably say they hope to after the two sides were thwarted in their attempts to play a NatWest T20 Blast match on the ground on Sunday because the outfield was too sodden despite blue skies and sunshine engulfing the field at the time.
Derbyshire
Derbyshire are without a win in nine matches in the Championship this season although I am sure they will be quick to point out that seven of those matches have been drawn with many of them rain affected but already they can prepare for life in this division next season as they are not getting promoted from their current position.
Getting 20 wickets has been the biggest problem for Derbyshire this season and the reason why they haven’t won as many matches as they would have liked. They are going great guns with the bat and have regularly passed 400 in the first innings but they just can’t restrict sides or bowl them out which is a legacy of not having Mark Footitt around anymore.
Northamptonshire
Just like Derbyshire, Northants are winless in four day cricket this season although they have played a match less. They can also attribute a number of their draws to the weather which really has made life tough for sides this season which is a shame.
Northamptonshire are also having no problems with the bat this season with Ben Duckett breaking plenty of records but just like their opponents here they are having big problems taking 20 wickets and that is something they will need to sort out ahead of next season if they want to come out of this division again.
Betting
We don’t actually know when this match will begin. Hopefully a day of sun has dried the outfield out enough for us to start on time on Monday but that remains to be seen. You would think if the outfield was that drenched on Sunday the pitch is going to be very slow when these two do get going and given their problems bowling sides out the last thing they would have wanted would be a dead track.
There are a lot of questions over both sides going into this match and as such nothing really takes my fancy. With both struggling for 20 wickets and both really dominating with the bat you would have to say a draw has every chance here which doesn’t inspire me into having a punt either way.
Tips
No Bet
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