Samit Patel travels across time to prepare Derbyshire for their first victory.

The Foxes elected to bat first and stammered to 97 for 6 as Zak Chappell, Pat Brown, and Samit Patel claimed two wickets apiece.

However, they were boosted to 176 for 6 by Peter Handscomb, who struck 75 off 51, and Rehan Ahmed (36 off 22) after an uninterrupted partnership of 79 in 45 balls.

The 40-year-old Wayne Madsen and the 39-year-old Patel shared a magnificent combination of 102 runs in 58 balls as the Falcons responded with 178 for 6 in 19.1 overs. Madsen scored a cool 43 off 35, but Patel struck a brilliant 64 from 32.

After Foxes defeated Yorkshire Vikings in their opening game last night, their quality forced Falcons to need 18 from the final 12 balls. Brooke Guest lofted the first and sixth of those balls over the rope to bring the team back to earth.

A reminder of what a tremendous leveller cricket can be came to Sol Budinger early in the Leicestershire innings. Following his brilliant half-century on Friday, the opener gave Chappell a backward point slap with a golden duck.

Brown was feathered by Rishi Patel to wicketkeeper Brooke Guest, and Louis Kimber’s explosive start was cut short when he skied Chappell to mid-off, where Madsen made an excellent catch in a challenging situation.

Peter Handscomb kept watching as partners in and left. Ben Cox and Ben Mike holed out to Patel after Wiaan Mulder lifted Brown to deep cover, giving the spinner his 343rd and 344th T20 wickets.

After that, the Foxes were at a precarious 97 for 6 in the thirteenth over, but Peter Handscomb had an innings worthy of a leader. He skillfully manoeuvred the ball throughout his impressive half-century, which was oddly only his sixth century beyond fifty in 124 Twenty20 matches. Rehan Ahmed provided crucial assistance, hitting three sixes, to raise the total to about par.

The Falcons’ over aggression in the first few overs cost them dearly. Luis Reece tried to charge at Kimber but missed. After hitting his opening ball for six, Mike bowled David Lloyd with his sixth delivery, a magnificent swinging yorker. After hitting Ian Holland for four runs with a blow to mid-off, Harry Came foolishly attempted to hit the same ball again and was caught at mid-off.

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The Falcons’ foundations were shaky at 31 for 3, but Madsen and Patel skillfully and selectively counterattacked. Former England all-rounder Patel displayed his unwavering strength in a spectacular performance that contained five sixes and four fours before Mike caught him squarely on the square leg rope off Rehan Ahmed.

Falcons required 28 runs from 21 balls after Madsen hoisted Mike to mid-off. Ross Whiteley skied Scott Currie to long-on, but in the penultimate over, Guest smote Mike for massive sixes over long-off and straight, requiring just two more runs to win.