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Based on the fact that no team has ever been promoted from Division Two of the national league with less than nine wins, five of the nine teams could still go up. Surrey are one of them and their remaining fixtures are against three of the other four. Gloucestershire are virtually assured of promotion and two of Northants' last four matches are against the division's whipping boys Hampshire and Sussex. Realistically, therefore, the Lions, seeking two more victories, are involved in a three-way scrap for third spot along with the Derbyshire Scorpions and the Essex Eagles. Without Dominic Cork, Derbyshire would look akin to a minor county side. How then have they already managed to beat Surrey's star-studded line-up this season? You may well ask. A poor batting performance followed by an equally lacklustre fielding display, basically. It was the sort of result that left one wondering if the scratch eleven put out against the Steelbacks at Whitgift might have fared better. The Scorpions lack of batting is underlined by the fact that in twelve matches a Derbyshire batsman has only passed fifty on six occasions. Their bowling attack is a much tighter outfit than it might look on paper, though. Assuming Cork plays he will be a huge threat to the Lions, but the Scorpions' skipper is backed up by unsung heroes like Matt Dowman, Jason Kerr and Graeme Welch. For the visitors Mark Ramprakash, with 900 runs, and Alistair Brown, who has 888, are both seeking to make a thousand runs in one-day cricket this season.
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