Birmingham Bears v Yorkshire Vikings: Vikings will travel with great confidence after fine start

STEVE PATTERSON says Yorkshire are determined to improve their away record as they aim to build on a winning start in the T20 Blast.
Adam Lyth hits out during Yorkshire Vikings' NatWest T20 Blast win over Durham Jets at Headingley on Thursday (Picture: Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com).Adam Lyth hits out during Yorkshire Vikings' NatWest T20 Blast win over Durham Jets at Headingley on Thursday (Picture: Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com).
Adam Lyth hits out during Yorkshire Vikings' NatWest T20 Blast win over Durham Jets at Headingley on Thursday (Picture: Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com).

Last year the club won none of their seven T20 games on the road, with four defeats, two no-results and one tie conspiring to knock them out at the group stages.

In contrast they won six of their seven fixtures at Headingley where they began this year’s tournament with a thumping 44-run win against Durham on Thursday.

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Yorkshire face Birmingham Bears in their second fixture at Edgbaston tomorrow (2.30pm start), and captain Patterson said: “Away from home last year we had a poor record, so we’ll be going out there determined to try and improve that.

“It’s a funny one – you can sometimes read too much into stats – but we’ve got off to an emphatic start this year and we need to go to Birmingham with the same intent, the same confidence, and try and get a second win.

“We’re certainly very confident playing at Headingley where we always get good support and know how to play.

“If we can play like we have done at home and improve our form away from home we’re going to be in pretty good order.”

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Yorkshire impressed on the road in the recent Royal London Cup, winning five out of five before losing to Hampshire in the semi-final at Southampton.

They face a Birmingham side who also began their T20 campaign in style, thrashing Notts by eight wickets at Trent Bridge.

“I saw little bits of that game on TV and they (Birmingham) were pretty emphatic too,” said Patterson, who added that Tom Kohler-Cadmore (back) is a fitness concern.

“We know they’re a good side, they’ve got some experience and some good young players, so it’s going to be a very tough test.But if we play like we did against Durham then surely we can compete against anybody. We’ve got to go there full of confidence after that performance.”

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Yorkshire totalled 200-3 from their 20 overs, Durham replying with 156-4.

“We thought 170-175 was a par score, so we were delighted at half-time,” said Patterson.

“Second half we knew that if we started strongly and got a couple of early wickets we’d be right in the box-seat, and that’s exactly what we did.”