Report: Yorkshire vs Warwickshire, One Day Cup

Vansh Jani struck 82 on his List A debut, but it wasn’t enough to stop Yorkshire from an opening day Metro Bank One-Day Cup win over Warwickshire at Scarborough, by five wickets chasing 138. 

New-ball quick Ben Cliff, aged 22, was playing his first first-team game since the summer’s opening week following a side injury, and he was the chief tormenter as the Bears were bowled out for 137 inside 37 overs at the start of Group B.

Cliff struck four times in a devastating opening spell, with Warwickshire slipping to 38 for seven before Jani’s brilliant 82 off 92 balls. It was the 20-year-old’s maiden first-team fifty in his second game. 

Yorkshire, for whom Adam Lyth took four catches in the slips – equalling a club record for outfield catches in a List A innings, didn’t chase with ease on a tricky pitch. But Pakistani international opener Imam-Ul-Haq held things together with 55 off 83 balls.

Cliff struck twice in three balls in his opening over and four times in all as the Bears crumbled to 24 for five in the 10th, having been inserted.

He had both Rob Yates and Zen Malik caught at cover by James Wharton in the second over – one for two – the former via a leading edge as he looked to play to leg and the latter off a miscued drive.

Cliff’s new-ball partner Jack White (one for 21 from 10 overs) clipped Warwickshire captain Ed Barnard’s off bail with a beauty before Cliff struck again to get a driving Hamza Shaikh caught at second slip by Lyth.

And when extra bounce forced Kai Smith to loop a catch to backward point, the Bears were five down and in serious strife.

Alex Davies fell to Matthew Revis’s first ball for 15, the seam-bowling all-rounder getting him and Jake Lintott caught by Lyth at slip. When Lintott fell to the third ball of the 14th over, Warwickshire were 38 for seven.

Batting at number seven, Jani’s first of six boundaries was a lovely on-drive against George Hill as Warwickshire achieved respectability.

But not before Hill’s seam accounted for Michael Booth caught at slip by Lyth – 63 for eight in the 21st.

Hill added a second wicket when Ethan Bamber drilled to mid-off, though Jani counter-attacked. 

He hoisted Hill over long-on and scooped White over fine-leg for his first two of five sixes, reaching a 67-ball fifty, by which time the visitors were 101 for nine in the 31st over.

Right-handed Jani smashed Revis out of the ground over long-on before miscuing Cliff to mid-on to end the innings.

Jani and Oliver Hannon-Dalby added 64, a Warwickshire List A record stand for the 10th wicket and comfortably the best of the innings. Last man, Hannon-Dalby, contributed only one. 

Yorkshire were cautious in reply. They lost Lyth and Will Luxton, the latter for 25, to the seam of Hannon-Dalby and Bamber – 47 for two in the 14th over. 

Booth’s pace then accounted for James Wharton and Revis in successive deliveries, caught behind off the inside-edge and caught low down at second slip, as the score fell to 72 for four in the 21st. 

But left-handed Imam anchored things. His first five scoring shots were boundaries, strong on the pull and drive, and he shared a calming fifth-wicket stand of 56 with Hill, 20 not out. Imam fell caught at deep square-leg with 10 to win, but it was a consolatory third wicket for Booth. Yorkshire won with 17.1 overs remaining.

Warwickshire first-team coach Ian Westwood said, “Being 38-7 cost us. The pitch wasn’t easy, particularly with the hard new ball. But we were pretty slow to adapt to what was in front of us. 

“Vansh was brilliant. One of the beauties of this competition is that you get to find out about people. We have quite a lot of inexperience mixed in with a few older players, and we were delighted with the way he played from that position. 

“To get 80-odd and get us up to some sort of total shows the quality he’s got and how excited we are about him.

“He looked at home in the Championship last week with his 40 (Essex, draw). But he’s churned out runs all season, to be honest. One of the reasons we signed him was that he’s been prolific in the second team every time he’s got a chance. Then it’s about, has he got the confidence to take that into the first team? So far, he’s shown that he has.

“It wasn’t an easy pitch to bat on. It was always going to be difficult defending such a small total. We really needed to have them 50-5 and create pressure. But I thought we stuck at it pretty well with the ball and gave ourselves a bit of sniff.

“We’re not going to panic too much after the first game. It’s not an ideal start, and we’re going to have to play a lot better. That’s for sure. But we have a few days to rest up and get some good training done. We’ll hope for a better performance on Sunday (Northamptonshire).”