Martin Andersson took six wickets as Derbyshire Falcons thrashed Leicestershire Foxes by 85 runs to record their first win of the T20 Blast season.
The seam-bowling all-rounder backed up a half-century with the bat by taking a career-best 6-23 with the ball, the best bowling figures by any Derbyshire bowler in T20 history.
The Foxes, for whom Australian all-rounder Ashton Turner top-scored with 53 from 22 balls, suffered a third defeat, bowled out for 145 in 15.2 overs.
Derbyshire capitalised on a lightning start to hammer a formidable 230-5 – just one short of their record in the format – after Caleb Jewell struck an unbeaten 58 off 35 balls, Andersson having made 57 from 29 and Aneurin Donald 49 from 24.
Needing to surpass their own tournament record total to win, the Foxes suffered a calamitous beginning to their reply, finding themselves three down in the first 11 balls with only six scored. Rishi Patel was caught at deep midwicket off spinner Jack Morley before Stephen Eskinazi hit straight to mid-off and Nick Kelly chopped on, giving Ben Aitchison two wickets in four balls.
Turner and Ben Cox then raised home hopes in an exhilarating partnership that added 92 in 40 balls, Turner twice clearing the boundary off Pakistan international Akif Javed and pulling another six off Matt Montgomery’s off spin.
Turner survived one chance on 32 but both batters perished in the same Andersson over, each finding Ross Whiteley in the deep on the off side, and after Liam Trevaskis, caught at as the sixth Foxes wicket to fall on 111, there looked like only one winner.
The Andersson-Whiteley combo enjoyed a third success as Ben Green holed out, before the former Middlesex man, who did not bowl in either of Derbyshire’s opening two matches, caught and bowled Ian Holland and Josh Hull in the same over.
Winning the toss, the Foxes opted to chase whatever Derbyshire could muster, which quickly looked like being a lot as the visitors flew out of the traps, putting on 78 in the powerplay.
Donald – dropped in the deep twice, on 25 and 44 – cleared the ropes three times, twice off home skipper Green.
A good grab on the run by Turner at mid-on finally removed Donald but Derbyshire continued apace, Andersson upper-cutting for six as he raced to a 22-ball fifty and the Falcons reached halfway at 120-1.
The home side regained some ground, restricting Derbyshire to 35 in the next five overs. Turner had Andersson caught at deep point, then Holland took two in two, bowling Wayne Madsen with a leg-stump yorker and dismissing Whitely with a brilliant one-handed return catch.
But Matt Montgomery (27 off 13) provided fresh impetus before Jewell cleared the long-on rope off a free hit in hammering 24 in a single Ben Mike over and Ben Green’s final over went for 19, the last five yielding 75 runs in a Derbyshire total just one short of their record 231 made against the same opponents at Derby in 2023.
