England Women host New Zealand in an IT20 at The Central Co-op County-Ground on Wednesday 20 May (6.30pm).
The Women’s T20 World Cup holders, led by Amelia Kerr, face an England side aiming to make more history in Derby.
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Leus du Plooy admits Derbyshire’s results so far have not been good enough, but the batsman is keen to remain positive about their chances in the Vitality Blast.
The Falcons have started off with one win from their opening four matches, with Tuesday night’s defeat to Lancashire Lightning coming after the visitors chased down 197 with ten balls to spare.
That came after du Plooy smashed 92, while also putting on a brilliant century stand with Harry Came (56), at The Incora County Ground, after a disappointing start to Derbyshire’s innings.
Having played a key role in the side that reached Finals Day in 2019, du Plooy says those who played need to draw on that experience now, and remain positive that they can pick up some wins in the remaining games.
“The results have been disappointing, but we can be positive, because two years ago we didn’t get off to the best start and the guys will be aware of that,” he said.
“We have a very young bowling attack, so it’s not a surprise, but hopefully they can take a lot from the last few came and keep developing.
“We need to understand that there’s a lot of cricket to come, take it game by game and improve where we can. That’s all that we can control and we need to make sure that we nail that.”
The Falcons were 9-2 when du Plooy arrived at the crease, with neither he or the inexperienced Came having passed 50 in the format this season at that point.
However, a magnificent display of powerful hitting from the pair saw them put on exactly 100 runs before Came was dismissed, before du Plooy also combined with Matt Critchley for a further 63 runs.
With the pressure on, du Plooy said he was just focussed on trying to find his rhythm, and he praised Came for his attacking intent throughout.
“I try not to look at the scoreboard too much, because sometimes it can really cloud your thought process,” he added
“I just tried to some up the conditions as quickly as I could, play it ball by ball, because sometimes you just get the feeling that you can take a certain bowler on, or the wind is blowing in a direction you like, and it comes off for you. I got a bit lucky at times, but it’s just good to get some runs.
“Harry was the accelerator between us two, it was nice seeing him bat full of confidence as a young player, I love what he brings to our team.”
