Report: Yorkshire vs Warwickshire, Rothesay County Championship

Day Three

Warwickshire completed a level-headed chase of 185 on day three to beat Yorkshire by five wickets at Headingley, securing their second Rothesay County Championship victory of the season.

The Bears started the day on 15 without loss, and openers Rob Yates and Alex Davies contributed 41 and 31 respectively. However, they reached lunch with a 20-point haul by no means secure at 109 for four, needing 76 more.

But they were able to move into the top three places in the Division One table midway through the afternoon tea thanks to first-class debutant Zen Malik, who finished 49 not out off 73 balls, including a pulled six off George Hill to win it.

While Warwickshire won their second game in four at the start of this season, Yorkshire have now lost two from four and are in the top flight’s bottom three.

The hosts will be mightily frustrated at the fact they were unable to capitalise on the one-game availability of England’s batting duo Harry Brook and Joe Root. The latter’s second-innings 90 was their best score in four innings.

However, consistently, they just didn’t bowl well enough on a grassy pitch offering significant assistance for the bowlers. Overseas Australian debutant Jordan Buckingham, for example, went at more than seven runs an over across the two innings on his debut, striking only twice.

And the Bears were deserved winners, backing up last month’s one-wicket success at Durham.

While they didn’t dominate this fixture, they were on top for much of it and were able to capitalise on winning an important toss and bowling Yorkshire out for 205 on day one.

Their new-ball seamer, Ethan Bamber, excelled with match figures of nine for 107. Australian Test all-rounder Beau Webster should also be credited for an excellent 85 in the first innings, which secured what proved to be a decisive 48-run lead for the visitors. 

Captain Davies started positively this morning. Of the seven boundaries he hit in his 31, three of them came off one Hill over. Two were clipped through the leg-side, and the other handsomely driven through the covers. 

However, he was bowled through the gate by a beauty of an in-swinger from Ben Coad, losing his off and middle stumps in the process as the score fell to 45 for one in the 13th over – the day’s 10th. 

Buckingham then had Hamza Shaikh caught behind at 60 for two, immediately before a 10-minute rain delay, and Yates and Dan Mousley fell to New Zealand quick Ben Sears and Jordan Thompson respectively to boost Yorkshire before lunch.

Left-handed Yates had been more reserved than his opening partner Davies, though by no means becalmed.

He pulled Buckingham for four through midwicket and clipped Thompson through the same region for a couple of boundaries in as many overs as the score reached 85 for two, 100 more needed for the visitors.

There would have been some nerves in the away dressing room when Yates was undone by extra bounce from Sears and edged a looping catch to Root at first slip before, at the start of the morning’s final over, Thompson uprooted Mousley’s off-stump – 109 for four in the 30th over.

Though those nerves wouldn’t have been around for long, given how settled 27-year-old Malik looked in a fifth-wicket partnership of 59 with Ed Barnard.

Right-hander Malik was strong on both sides of the wicket, and when he beautifully drove Thompson for four straight of mid-on to move into the thirties, Warwickshire were 136 for four needing 49 more. 

All-rounder Barnard, meanwhile, had an excellent game with three wickets in each innings, 41 with the bat first time around and then 37 to help get them over the line. With the Bears closing in, he even nonchalantly ramped Sears for six over third but edged the same bowler behind with 17 needed. It was a purely consolatory strike.

Ian Westwood said: “That was a great win. On a pitch that offered something for the bowlers all game, it was always going be fairly low-scoring and exciting. It was a good game to watch, quite tense at times, so to go head to head and come out on top was really good. 

“We knew on that pitch that we had to be ruthless when we got a chance to get a partnership going because it wasn’t easy batting all the way through the game. And it didn’t really get any easier. There was still good balls in there (at the end).

“What we did really well in the chase was that we never lost wickets in clumps. We always managed to get at least a 20-partnership after losing a wicket. That helped steady the ship.

“I just said in the changing room, ‘I thought that was a real team effort’. 

“You could point to a number of great performances. Beau’s 85 in the first innings, I thought was exceptional. To score runs on there, you needed a bit of luck and a high level of skill.

“Again, for Zen to walk off there nearly 50 not out on his debut, shaking hands and getting us home, is brilliant for his confidence and shows he’s got the temperament to play at this level.”

Day Two

Warwickshire bowled Yorkshire out for 232 to set up a target of 185 to secure victory in their Rothesay County Championship clash with Yorkshire at Headingley.

Yorkshire were bowled out late on day two, with visiting new-ball seamer Ethan Bamber adding four wickets to his five in the first innings, completing impressive match figures of nine for 107. 

Warwickshire then closed on 15 without loss from three overs of their chase.

The day started with the Bears, replying to a first-innings 205, advancing from 161 for six overnight to 253 all out, with Australian Test all-rounder Beau Webster completing a superb 85 off 86 balls on debut. 

He helped secure a lead of 48 but was the last visiting wicket to fall, caught trying to attack against New Zealand quick Ben Sears, who finished with four wickets. 

Warwickshire’s bowlers chipped away at the wickets when they started bowling again 35 minutes before lunch.

They built early pressure. Bamber bowled locum opener Dom Bess in the third over, leaving the score at nine for one.

And, either side of lunch, that was the first of seven successive maidens bowled by himself and new-ball partner Olly Hannon-Dalby, who hails from down the road in Halifax.

James Wharton was run out at the non-striker’s end during the early stages of the afternoon following a mix-up with opener Adam Lyth, who then went on to share a third-wicket 71 with Root from 19 for two.

Both look assured, though Lyth’s effort was curtailed 10 runs short of a fifty when he edged behind off the back foot to Ed Barnard’s seam, leaving the hosts at 90 for three in the 28th over.

The ICC’s number one and two ranked Test Match batters, Root and Harry Brook, then shared 53 for the fourth wicket, though the latter’s stay was too brief for Yorkshire’s liking. 

He fell lbw for 20, playing around a full ball from seamer Michael Booth shortly before tea, which the hosts reached at 152 for four with a lead of 104.

Jonny Bairstow top-edged a pull at Bamber behind on six, with wicketkeeper Kai Smith taking a smart running catch, before George Hill edged Barnard to second slip. And when Jordan Thompson miscued to cover as Barnard struck for a third time, Yorkshire were 190 for seven in the 60th over, leading by 142.

All the while, Root looked commanding at the crease in his 100th first-class innings for the county, hitting 13 fours in 131 balls. 

However, he missed out on a century when he top-edged a pull to backward point off Bamber – 219 for eight.

Dan Mousley was the catcher, and the same combination did for Sears soon after, before Buckingham was bowled by Booth for 28, giving Warwickshire a short period of batting to navigate before close.

With the bat in the first innings, Webster was excellent before lunch in getting the Bears up to and just beyond 250. 

A tall and imposing figure at the crease, he mixed power with invention in moving from 32 overnight to reach his fifty off 54 balls and give his new county a decent lead and a batting bonus point.

He scooped Coad for six and muscled expensive compatriot seamer Jordan Buckingham, also on debut for Yorkshire, through the off-side for a trio of boundaries to help the Bears into the lead.

He dominated a 74-run partnership for the eighth wicket with keeper Smith before pulling Sears to midwicket to end the innings. Smith contributed 19. 

Sears and Hill claimed two wickets apiece this morning, three of them caught behind by Bairstow.

Ed Barnard said: “I think we’re pretty happy. We were really happy with how we came out and batted this morning. To get that lead was really important. It was touch and go, but Beau played brilliantly on a pitch like that. 

“Then, we came out and backed up yesterday’s performance with the ball.

“It’s a tough pitch. There’s still balls in it, so it’s not going to be an easy chase tomorrow. 

“Everyone backed each other up (with the ball today). We were backing up some overs from yesterday, so there were some tired legs towards the end. But the lads kept coming.

“I thought Boothy was outstanding coming down the hill. That one spell he bowled at Brook and Root was of the highest class. And then Bamber just found another gear. Olly and Beau were brilliant as well. “Hopefully we can come back in the morning and start well.”

Day One

New-ball seamer Ethan Bamber claimed his first five-wicket haul in a Warwickshire shirt as they and star-studded Yorkshire traded blows during a 16-wicket opening day of their Rothesay County Championship fixture at Headingley.

Bamber moved from Middlesex over the winter and is playing his fourth match for the Bears, who won the toss on a green pitch and bowled their hosts out for 205 to signal an early tea.  

His five for 47 from 15.2 overs included the scalp of England’s new limited-overs captain Harry Brook for a frantic 33, while impressive three-wicket all-rounder Ed Barnard got Joe Root for one and Jonny Bairstow for 47.

Warwickshire, for whom wicketkeeper Kai Smith claimed five catches, closed on 161 for six from 43 overs in reply, trailing by 44. Barnard added 41.

Warwickshire were six points better off in the early Division One table after three matches, and they edged the morning as Yorkshire reached lunch at 97 for four. Brook had 33 of those.

With obvious movement through the air and off the pitch on offer, Bamber struck twice, added to a wicket apiece for fellow seamers Barnard and Olly Hannon-Dalby. 

Having left Fin Bean out, Yorkshire opted to utilise Dom Bess as a locum opener alongside Adam Lyth, who contributed 26 but was one of the morning wickets. Dawid Malan (groin) was also missing.

Bess, for 16, was first to go when he got an inside-edge to a Bamber delivery which nipped back and was caught behind by Smith.

Warwickshire’s wicketkeeper took three morning catches, including James Wharton off Bamber at the second attempt. He fumbled the initial chance but held the rebound between his thighs.

When Root played at a back-of-a-length delivery from Barnard, which he probably didn’t need to, edging low to second slip, Yorkshire were 32 for three after 14 overs. 

Lyth followed to Hannon-Dalby before Brook made an action-packed start to his innings. Although he drove nicely, he danced down the pitch twice looking to hit over the top and survived a huge caught behind appeal off Michael Booth.  

Brook failed to add to his lunchtime 33 when miscueing an attempted uppercut off Bamber to Hamza Shaikh at third – 97 for five in the 29th over, three balls into the afternoon.

George Hill followed shortly afterwards to the same bowler before Bairstow and Jordan Thompson united to share a vital seventh-wicket 61.

While both were attacking, it wasn’t reckless. Thompson supported his captain with 35.

There were signs of Bairstow – making his 100th Championship appearance – at his savage best. But there was finesse too. One straight drive off Barnard was as good as any shot all day.

However, Barnard removed both as Yorkshire fell to 185 for nine. Thompson was caught behind before Bairstow played on.

New Zealander Ben Sears then clobbered a late 28 to sneak Yorkshire beyond the 200-mark before edging Bamber into the slips to signal an early tea.

And wickets continued to fall in the evening – six of them.

After Davies and Rob Yates shared an opening 30, Warwickshire lost four for 17 inside eight overs.

Davies edged Australian debutant Jordan Buckingham’s new-ball seam to third slip before Yates was trapped lbw by Ben Coad. 

And when Shaikh gloved pacy Sears behind as he tried to leave one alone, followed by Zen Malik trapped lbw by Hill next ball, the hosts were back in it at 47 for four in the 14th.

Barnard then set about settling the situation and drove nicely. 

He shared 59 with Dan Mousley – the latter contributing 32 before edging Coad to second slip – and a sixth-wicket 50 with Australian debutant Beau Webster, 32 not out.

However, Barnard was caught at second slip off Sears late on, almost the last act of a super day’s play.

Ethan Bamber said: “I loved it out there. These are the games you want to play in. I really enjoyed it.

“It’s fast-moving and probably finely poised after day one. 

“I got a fair share of luck, including one caught at third-man. But, I felt alright. Hopefully, we can push on with the bat tomorrow.

“There’s a good amount of grass covering (on the pitch) and maybe a few divots. 

“It was a bit soft underneath at the start and hardened up. It’s nice to bowl on, for sure. As they showed – they bowled really nicely – you can build pressure and there’s a ball in there. But you do get value for shots. It will be interesting to see how the game progresses from here.”