Chappell inspires Derbyshire to two wicket win over Northants in One-Day Cup

Chappell came together with his skipper Ross Whiteley with Derbyshire in tatters at 79 for seven chasing 236 to win, but they turned the game on its head with a record eighth wicket partnership of 131 (23.4 overs) for the visitors against any opposition.

Despite Northamptonshire’s teenage pacer Raphy Weatherall sparking the initial collapse and finishing with figures of four for 50 on his List A debut, the momentum was all with Derbyshire as Chappell and Whiteley made hay.

Earlier Emilio Gay (59) and George Bartlett (50) each struck half-centuries in a partnership of 79 in 15 overs. Saif Zaib and Lewis McManus then picked up the mantle and looked set to propel Northamptonshire towards a competitive total during a stand of 69 in exactly 11 overs.

But their departure precipitated a Steelbacks collapse, five wickets falling for 22 in 33 balls. On a day to remember for Chappell, the quick bowler finished with career best bowling figures of 4-39 while veteran all-rounder Samit Patel took 3-41 as the hosts were bowled out for 235 in 47 overs, which looked well below par.

Chappell said: “I said before I went out, if we can build a partnership, with a score of 235, you’re only ever one partnership away. I obviously know that Ross has got time and he bats well and I thought if I could survive with him and we bat to 45, 50 overs, we would win the game. And the big if was not losing wickets, so went out with a mindset of just playing normal shots and batting for 20 overs and seeing where we were.

“My left hammy isn’t brilliant, nor is my right achilles, but that’s just sport, isn’t it. My drugs wore off with an hour to go, so that was part of the problem. But all good. I’ll be fine for the next game.

“We took it two overs at a time in the partnership and just keep watching that [total] tumble a little bit each over.

“I felt like I bowled well. I haven’t played a 50 over game in a couple of years, so I couldn’t really remember what my figures were. It was just nice to bowl well and then I just knew if we batted 50 overs we’d win the game.”