Middlesex v Yorkshire: Bairstow century delivers rare win for county

The prosaic pastures of the CB40 competition were always unlikely to have been a target for the ne’er-do-wells, but Lord’s was sufficiently perturbed by recent events to have pushed the start time back from 3.40pm to noon.

It meant spectators were able to leave the ground in the bright sunshine of early evening rather than the darkness of night, with play originally scheduled to have ended around 9.30pm.

The game only got the go-ahead at 8.30am following a much calmer night in the capital, and Yorkshire were grateful it did as they achieved that rarity of rarities – a victory.

Jonny Bairstow, the self-assured Yorkshire batsman, would have been particularly thankful as he top-scored with 114 out of 275-4 after Yorkshire were asked to bat.

It was his maiden one-day hundred and Lord’s, for obvious reasons, was not a bad place to get it.

There was an equally impressive contribution from Anthony McGrath, who made a stylish 63, while Jacques Rudolph chipped in with 40 and Gary Ballance an undefeated 34.

Only Paul Stirling (68 from 47 balls) and Steven Crook (61 from 40) held up the Yorkshire attack, who dismissed their hosts for 253 with two overs left unused.

Victory took Yorkshire off the bottom of Group A but was of nothing more than academic interest.

Six defeats in the previous eight games had ended Yorkshire’s hopes of reaching the semi-finals and also means their final three matches – against Derbyshire at Chesterfield on Sunday, against Sussex at Scarborough on Sunday week and against Worcestershire at Headingley Carnegie on August 29 – are irrelevant.

A win is a win, however, and Yorkshire have had only 11 of them in 37 competitive fixtures this season.

This may have been too little too late, but it was a good all-round performance against a side who still harbour hopes of making the last four.

Middlesex’s decision to ask Yorkshire to bat was at curious variance with the straw-coloured pitch and warm weather, with Lord’s bathed in golden sunshine for much of the day.

Andrew Gale followed the fifth ball of the match from Corey Collymore and was caught behind, but it was a false dawn from the Middlesex perspective.

Rudolph and Bairstow got the innings on track with something approaching comfort as the groundwork was laid for a sizeable total.

Bairstow highlighted the true nature of the surface by striking Tim Murtagh for six over long-off, Rudolph following up with one of the shots of the day when he drove with equal confidence through the line to send a ball from Crook to the mid-off boundary.

The Yorkshire pair looked in total command until Rudolph hoiked Crook across the line and was caught by Paul Stirling at mid-on following a second-wicket stand of 85 in 16 overs.

Bairstow went to fifty from 47 balls and was matched blow for blow by McGrath, who immediately stamped his authority on events with a classic late-cut for four off Middlesex’s Jamie Dalrymple.

The confidence garnered by his century against Hampshire in the County Championship last week was clearly evident as McGrath worked the field in expert fashion. McGrath added 105 in 17 overs with Bairstow before spooning Murtagh to Dalrymple in the covers, leaving Yorkshire 190-3 in the 32nd over.

Bairstow likes to biff down the ground and he struck Crook for a straight six before repeating the feat off Murtagh to reach his century from 81 deliveries.

Six balls later he was bowled by Neil Dexter, his innings a useful boost before England Lions’ three-match one-day series against Sri Lanka A that starts in Worcester tomorrow.

Ballance gave Yorkshire’s total an unassailable hue when he clubbed successive leg-side sixes off Collymore during a 24-ball cameo.

No Middlesex bowler emerged with distinction – only distinctly unflattering figures.

The home reply was soon in distress when Ryan Sidebottom yorked Scott Newman with the sixth delivery.

Adil Rashid nipped in with two quick wickets before Stirling’s departure to a catch at cover effectively left Middlesex out of contention at 132-5, although Crook took them closer than expected.

Otherwise, the innings folded in a flurry of run-outs and poor shots on a day that served to belie both clubs’ league position.

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