Wayne Madsen fires Falcons chase as Derbyshire soar into top four

Derbyshire Falcons' Vitality Blast charge continued with a thumping seven-wicket win over Birmingham Bears at Edgbaston. Falcons lodged their fourth successive victory as they comfortably beat a Bears side which had piled up a Blast record total against Notts Outlaws only two days earlier.

This time they were restricted to 159 for 7 by excellent bowing led by Sam Conners and Mattie McKiernan. Sam Hain continued his sublime form with an unbeaten 73 off 40 balls but no other batter escaped the shackles.

The visitors made light of the modest target, racing to 160 for 3 with 11 balls to spare. Luis Reece supplied early impetus with 38 off 24 balls before Wayne Madsen, who made 55 off 34, and captain Shan Masood added 89 in 59 balls to seal victory.

The win lifts Falcons into the qualification spots while Bears are also still there but remain hit and miss, their record total of 261 on Friday sandwiched between defeats by ten and seven wickets. Another concern for them was Hain's absence when fielding due to a sore back.

Bears chose to bat but soon hit trouble against well-directed bowling. They were 23 for 3 after Connors removed Paul Stirling and Alex Davies, and Rob Yates lifted Mark Watt to long leg.

Hain motored to 50 from 29 balls, but support for him was fleeting. Adam Hose lifted McKiernan for six but edged the next ball to wicketkeeper Brooke Guest.

The Falcons attack, astutely orchestrated by captain Masood, kept the pressure high. Chris Benjamin, Carlos Brathwaite and Jake Lintott all cleared the ropes once but perished trying to repeat the big blows. Hain found himself too often at the non-striker's end as Bears came in short.

Falcons' reply was given a flier as Masood and Reece put 50 on the board in 33 balls. A comical mix up, which saw them both at the same end, did for Reece but Madsen hit two sixes from his first six balls and applied measured acceleration while Masood played the perfect anchor role.

Bears' unhappy day continued when they were penalised five runs after bowler Brathwaite, seeing Madsen set off for a single, sent in a throw which would have hit the stumps but struck the batter. The umpires' bizarre decision to deem it dangerous play summed up a bad day for the home side.

Madsen said later: "The umpires deemed Carlos Brathwaite's throw reckless and that is what it was. I was in my crease and he didn't even look. I know it's a competitive game but if that had hit me on the back of the head, like the umpires said, there is real trouble."

Madsen advanced to a 29-ball half-century and Falcons rose impressively into the top four of the North Group.