Derbyshire v Yorkshire: Gale injury scare compounds a difficult weekend for Yorkshire

On Saturday, Worcestershire’s win over Sussex in the County Championship saw Yorkshire slip into the relegation zone.

Andrew Gale’s men are now second-bottom of the table with 98 points from 12 games – four points behind a Worcestershire side who are one place above them with a match in hand.

In a further blow on Saturday, Gale was struck on the right forearm by Oliver Hannon-Dalby while batting in the nets at Headingley Carnegie and is a doubt for Wednesday’s Championship game against Sussex at Scarborough.

Gale will today have an X-ray to determine the extent of an injury which, in a worst-case scenario, could even rule him out for the rest of the season.

Then, as if that was not enough, Yorkshire were soundly thumped in their latest CB40 encounter yesterday, Derbyshire cruising to a six-wicket win with 6.2 overs to spare.

In fact, it was the type of weekend that almost made one grateful for Monday mornings.

It is Gale’s injury, however, rather than another defeat in a CB40 tournament in which they were already unable to reach the knockout stages, that has given Yorkshire the most cause for concern.

The captain cut a forlorn figure at arboreal Queen’s Park as he watched helplessly from the sidelines, with Yorkshire in need of his never-say-die attitude at this time more than ever.

If ever there was a batsman for a crisis, for a relegation dog-fight, it is a man who traditionally thrives on adversity.

Jacques Rudolph captained the team at Chesterfield and will do so at Scarborough should Gale, as seems likely, fail to recover.

In Gale’s absence, Joe Sayers was recalled to open with Rudolph.

The pair set off in purposeful style after Rudolph won the toss beneath cloudy skies.

Rudolph played an authoritative stroke in the second over when he dismissively launched Wes Durston for six over long-on.

A blow of brute force was followed by two of great beauty, Rudolph caressing Durston to the cover boundary with exquisite timing.

Sayers contributed 23 to an opening stand of 61 in 10 overs before he was strangled down the leg-side off Garry Park.

Moments earlier, the left-hander had been struck on the helmet by a fierce ball from Mark Footitt, but Sayers was happily able to raise a smile as the ball flew to the third-man boundary for four leg-byes.

Rudolph went to a half-century from 46 deliveries before Yorkshire lost their way in the middle period. Derbyshire’s spinners stifled the scoring on a pitch on which acceleration was never straightforward.

Yorkshire fell to 105-2 when Adam Lyth was bowled by Greg Smith in the 19th over and to 115-3 when Anthony McGrath lofted Smith to long-on.

Rudolph’s seemingly inexorable mission to bat through was unexpectedly halted in the 30th over when he was lured out of his ground by spinner Tom Knight and smartly stumped for 75.

When Gerard Brophy picked out cover, Yorkshire were 165-5 in the 34th over and in danger of failing to raise a competitive total.

It needed a belligerent performance by Gary Ballance to make that happen, the left-hander cutting loose in explosive fashion after reaching his half-century from 51 balls.

Ballance had a stroke of fortune on 57 when wicketkeeper Tom Poynton missed stumping him off Durston, but he made the most of it by biffing three sixes over mid-wicket.

The Zimbabwean was dropped off the final ball of the innings by Wright at short fine-leg off Tim Groenewald to finish on 81 from 65 deliveries.

Yorkshire flailed 52 from the last four overs to reach a fair-to-middling 234-7.

Derbyshire’s reply began in even more explosive manner.

Chesney Hughes lashed three fours off the second over, bowled by Moin Ashraf, who was recalled to the team along with Hannon-Dalby and Steve Patterson.

Martin Guptill, the New Zealand batsman, lofted Patterson for two leg-side sixes as Derbyshire raced to 44 inside five overs.

It took a lax shot from Hughes to break the opening stand on 82, the left-hander swatting David Wainwright’s first ball straight down the throat of Hannon-Dalby at long-on.

Durston and Wayne Madsen chipped in with useful 20s but it was Guptill who held the run-chase together.

He batted through to score an unbeaten 103 from 83 balls with nine fours and three sixes, thereby ensuring the majority of the 3,057 crowd ended their weekend feeling a good deal happier than Yorkshire.