BIG hitting from Ross Whiteley and the cool nerve of Mark Turner put Derbyshire into the final of the Barbados t20 Cup today at the Kensington Oval.
Left-hander Whiteley powered Derbyshire to a very competitive 153-6 after they were put in to bat by Warwickshire and an excellent final over from Turner denied the Bears the 10 runs they needed off the final over as the Falcons won by two runs.
They will face Yorkshire or Nottinghamshire in tonight's final, which is due to start 11.30pm GMT.
After going down to Warwickshire the night before by four wickets at the 3Ws Oval, Derbyshire qualified for the semis as the best of the losing counties in the first round and produced a spirited performance to triumph in the rematch.
Whiteley hit 63 and Tom Poynton added a strong 35 not out as they put on 87 in 40 balls for the fourth wicket to give their side a solid chance.
The Falcons made a much better job of preserving wickets than they did in the previous evening's meeting of the sides but found run-scoring much tougher on a hard, fast surface, at the start of their innings.
It was not until the 12th ball that Chesney Hughes, with a mistimed pull to long leg, put the first runs on the scoreboard and Warwickshire kept a tight hold on Derbyshire for the first half of their innings.
Billy Godleman was out for six and Hughes for 12 to make it 20-2 in the sixth over but Ben Slater, brought in in place of Wes Durston, who had a sore back, took his chance to shine nicely and began to build a strong partnership with Whiteley.
They took the score on to 57 before Slater was caught at midwicket for 15 but, with Poynton joining him at the crease, Whiteley went on the offensive.
His fifth six brought up his half-century off 29 balls, adding to three fours, and he cleared the ropes again with the next ball he faced.
Poynton also got in on the act as they added before Whiteley tried to scoop a ball from Oliver Hannon-Dalby but completely miscued it to third man. He made 63 off 38 balls with six sixes and two fours.
Johnson was yorked by Hannon-Dalby first ball and Peter Burgoyne skied the penultimate ball to be caught by wicketkeeper Pete McKay but Poynton made it to the close on 35 not out off 23 balls with three fours.
That total gave Warwickshire plenty of work to do and Derbyshire made a fine start by removing Darren Maddy for 10 at 13-1 two balls into the third over.
But Jim Troughton and Varun Chopra built steadily in a stand of 92 in 12 overs for the second wicket. Warwickshire were favourites then but the balance switched on the fall of three wickets.
Troughton was caught at deep midwicket for 47 off Whiteley's first ball and, two balls later, Clarke looped a gentle catch to cover off the leading edge to make it 106-3 in the 15th over.
In the next over, Chopra top-edged a sweep at Hughes to Poynton at short long leg for 51 and, at 113-4, Derbyshire were certainly back in it.
Needing 41 off the last four overs, Laurie Evans and Ateeq Javid chipped away and got boundaries when they needed them to leave 10 to get off the last six balls.
But Turner came up trumps, producing three singles and two dot balls off the first five deliveries and though Evans squeezed the last to the boundary, it did not matter.
Left-hander Whiteley powered Derbyshire to a very competitive 153-6 after they were put in to bat by Warwickshire and an excellent final over from Turner denied the Bears the 10 runs they needed off the final over as the Falcons won by two runs.
They will face Yorkshire or Nottinghamshire in tonight's final, which is due to start 11.30pm GMT.
After going down to Warwickshire the night before by four wickets at the 3Ws Oval, Derbyshire qualified for the semis as the best of the losing counties in the first round and produced a spirited performance to triumph in the rematch.
Whiteley hit 63 and Tom Poynton added a strong 35 not out as they put on 87 in 40 balls for the fourth wicket to give their side a solid chance.
The Falcons made a much better job of preserving wickets than they did in the previous evening's meeting of the sides but found run-scoring much tougher on a hard, fast surface, at the start of their innings.
It was not until the 12th ball that Chesney Hughes, with a mistimed pull to long leg, put the first runs on the scoreboard and Warwickshire kept a tight hold on Derbyshire for the first half of their innings.
Billy Godleman was out for six and Hughes for 12 to make it 20-2 in the sixth over but Ben Slater, brought in in place of Wes Durston, who had a sore back, took his chance to shine nicely and began to build a strong partnership with Whiteley.
They took the score on to 57 before Slater was caught at midwicket for 15 but, with Poynton joining him at the crease, Whiteley went on the offensive.
His fifth six brought up his half-century off 29 balls, adding to three fours, and he cleared the ropes again with the next ball he faced.
Poynton also got in on the act as they added before Whiteley tried to scoop a ball from Oliver Hannon-Dalby but completely miscued it to third man. He made 63 off 38 balls with six sixes and two fours.
Johnson was yorked by Hannon-Dalby first ball and Peter Burgoyne skied the penultimate ball to be caught by wicketkeeper Pete McKay but Poynton made it to the close on 35 not out off 23 balls with three fours.
That total gave Warwickshire plenty of work to do and Derbyshire made a fine start by removing Darren Maddy for 10 at 13-1 two balls into the third over.
But Jim Troughton and Varun Chopra built steadily in a stand of 92 in 12 overs for the second wicket. Warwickshire were favourites then but the balance switched on the fall of three wickets.
Troughton was caught at deep midwicket for 47 off Whiteley's first ball and, two balls later, Clarke looped a gentle catch to cover off the leading edge to make it 106-3 in the 15th over.
In the next over, Chopra top-edged a sweep at Hughes to Poynton at short long leg for 51 and, at 113-4, Derbyshire were certainly back in it.
Needing 41 off the last four overs, Laurie Evans and Ateeq Javid chipped away and got boundaries when they needed them to leave 10 to get off the last six balls.
But Turner came up trumps, producing three singles and two dot balls off the first five deliveries and though Evans squeezed the last to the boundary, it did not matter.
