DERBY, England, CMC – Former West Indies Twenty20 captain, Carlos Brathwaite, grabbed a brace of wickets and then played a key role at the death in the subsequent run chase as Birmingham Bears beat Derbyshire by three wickets on Sunday, to come away from the weekend with two wins in the Vitality Blast.
Asked to bowl first, Bears restricted Derbyshire to 160 for eight with Brathwaite producing an excellent four-over spell to claim two for 24 while England seamer Chris Woakes finished with two for 38 in his first appearance of the campaign.
Fynn Hudson-Prentice, batting at number six, top-scored with 41 from 22 deliveries with half-dozen fours and a six, putting on 62 for the sixth wicket with wicketkeeper Brooke Guest who made 24.
Both Brathwaite’s wickets came at the start of the penultimate over when he removed both Hudson-Prentice and Guest with successive deliveries, as he conceded only five runs to further stall Derbyshire’s progress.
In reply, Dan Mousley hammered 56 off 40 deliveries with six fours and a six as Bears overhauled their target with an over to spare.
They were slumping at 18 for three in the fourth over before Mousley added 55 for the fourth wicket with Sam Hain (25) and a further 49 for the fifth wicket with wicketkeeper Michael Burgess (25).
Brathwaite arrived in the 16th over at the fall of Mousley’s wicket with 39 runs required from 29 deliveries and belted three fours in 16 off ten balls before falling in the 18th over with victory all but assured.
On Friday, Brathwaite again played another critical all-round role as Bears held off Nottinghamshire by 18 runs in a high-scoring contest at Trent Bridge.
The right-hander blasted an 18-ball 44 with three fours and four sixes to help fire the visitors up to 229 for five off their 20 overs.
Opener Ed Pollock struck 62 off 34 balls while Hain chipped with an unbeaten 53 off 28 deliveries but more importantly, put on a rollicking 89 off 33 deliveries for the fifth wicket with Brathwaite.
Nottinghamshire made a fist of it in their run chase, ending on 211 for nine with medium pacer Brathwaite picking up two for 28 from three overs.
Ben Duckett smashed 51 from 27 balls in a 73-run fourth wicket stand with wicketkeeper Tom Moores who made 38 off 21 balls.
