da gbg bet： Chris Bassano announced his arrival on theChampionship stage with a brilliant unbeaten 186 thatsteered Derbyshire past the follow-on target at theCounty Ground
Nigel Gardner22-Jun-2001Chris Bassano announced his arrival on theChampionship stage with a brilliant unbeaten 186 thatsteered Derbyshire past the follow-on target at theCounty Ground.The 25-year-old made the highest score on Championshipdebut by a Derbyshire batsman and has so far been atthe crease for 13 minutes short of nine hours withoutoffering a chance.It was a highly impressive demonstration ofconcentration and application by the South African-born player whose only previous first-class appearancewas against the Pakistan tourists last month.Last season, he played second XI cricket for threecounties including Gloucestershire and made anunbeaten 100 for the West Country club who endorsedhis potential when Bassano was recommended toDerbyshire by his father Brian.He certainly looked the part and his innings will havegiven the county a huge lift after some poor battingdisplays this summer.He shared a stand of 202 with Steve Stubbings who made126 and added another 110 with Rob Bailey. Bassano,who went to university in Tasmania and holds a Britishpassport, brought up the 411 follow-on target with asquare cut boundary and has so far hit 27 fours andtwo sixes.Derbyshire had taken only five batting points thisseason – the lowest in the Championship – but theytucked away another four in this innings of 432-5which represents their highest total of the season.Once again, the pitch provided nothing for any of thebowlers and, so far, 992 runs have been scored for theloss of only 13 wickets and a draw on the final daylooks inevitable.