Vitality Blast 2019, Derbyshire Falcons vs Lancashire Lightning, Northamptonshire Steelbacks vs Yorkshire Vikings, Worcestershire Rapids vs Durham Jets: Preview, predictions

Sunday will feature three Vitality matches: Derbyshire Falcons vs Lancashire Lightning, Northamptonshire Steelbacks vs Yorkshire Vikings, and Worcestershire Rapids vs Durham Jets.

Derbyshire Falcons vs Lancashire Lightning

Derbyshire won one match out of three so far. They began the season with a brilliant win against Yorkshire. But then they failed as a team against Birmingham Bears and Nottinghamshire. Both matches saw the bowlers conceding too many runs and most of the batters choking. Billy Godleman, although failed in one of the matches still can play an important role at the top.

Lancashire look in form after securing three wins out of their four fixtures with one being washed out. Glenn Maxwell is the key player who has contributed whenever and whatever chance he has got. All departments of Lancashire have performed well so far and complemented each other.

Last season: Lancashire 164/1 (14.1) beat Derbyshire 161/4 (20) by 9 wickets.

Lancashire 157/8 (20) beat Derbyshire 145/7 (20) by 12 runs.

Players to watch: Billy Godleman (Derbyshire), Glenn Maxwell (Lancashire)

Prediction: Lancashire to win.

Northamptonshire Steelbacks vs Yorkshire Vikings

Northamptonshire finally won their last match against Birmingham Bears after being defeated in the previous two. Overall the bowlers are being decent but the batsmen are not able to rise at the occasions. The top order needs to deliver collectively Josh Cobb taking lead. It is good that they won the last match which would motivate him in the upcoming one.

Yorkshire typically had a bad day at office in their last outing. The consistent Adam Lyth and David Willey failed; they lost last five wickets for 20 runs with Nicholas Pooran being the knight in shining armour. A little more consistency in the batting line and Yorkshire are good to go.

Last season: Yorkshire 132/4 (18.4) beat Northamptonshire 129/7 (20) by 6 wickets.

Yorkshire 165/3 (15.3) beat Northamptonshire 162/8 (20) by 7 wickets.

Players to watch: Josh Cobb (Northamptonshire), Nicholas Pooran (Yorkshire)

Prediction: Yorkshire to win.

Worcestershire Rapids vs Durham Jets

While Worcestershire had a good beginning, they lost to Lancashire in their last match. Although the result was decided based on the D/L method, Worcestershire’s staged a poor batting performance. The top order could not deliver in both matches which resulted in limited runs for the bowlers to defend. Martin Guptill was still a consistent one but he needs to capitalize on good starts.

Durham lost one and won two matches so far and it was their batting mainly that decided the results. They were defeated by Lancashire due to massive batting collapse. The next match against Leicestershire saw their two openers chasing down in style with utmost dominance to win the match with 53 balls remaining.  Scott Steel undoubtedly is the man for Durham.

Last season: Durham 125/3 (14.4) beat Worcestershire 121 (20) by 7 wickets.

Worcestershire 195/7 (19.4) beat Durham 194/7 by 3 wickets.

Players to watch: Martin Guptill (Worcestershire), Scott Steel (Durham)

Prediction: Durham to win.