Solid contributions sustain Yorkshire CCC in the South Wales sunshine

THE promotion race appeared to take a decisive twist last week when Yorkshire beat Leicestershire and Middlesex lost to Gloucestershire.

It saw Yorkshire leapfrog Middlesex into second position and gave them a 15-point lead heading into the final two rounds.

Yorkshire will be promoted here at Sophia Gardens if they better by 10 points the haul achieved by Middlesex in their match at Derbyshire.

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After the first day’s play in the respective games, Yorkshire (361) are well-placed against Glamorgan (12-0) in Cardiff, while Middlesex (125-1) are menacingly positioned against Derbyshire (173) at Derby.

Man in form: George Hill top-scored for Yorkshire on day one in Cardiff. Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.comMan in form: George Hill top-scored for Yorkshire on day one in Cardiff. Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com
Man in form: George Hill top-scored for Yorkshire on day one in Cardiff. Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com

There will be twists and turns along the way but, although promotion is not quite Yorkshire’s to lose, it would be a surprise, perhaps, if they slipped up from here.

All will be revealed and in glorious conditions and 20-degree temperatures, the sort of weather that cricket has no right to expect in mid-September, this represented a solid start against the side second-bottom of the league, one which could be forgiven for having half an eye on Sunday’s One-Day Cup final against Somerset.

While Glamorgan contemplate that big day out at Trent Bridge, Yorkshire have lately started to exert themselves in the four-day format as they seek a fifth victory in six matches.

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Their total here included a number of fine contributions from George Hill (90), James Wharton (63), Dom Bess (50), Adam Lyth (46) and Jonny Tattersall (41), the foundation laid for a triumph that they may need to remain comfortably ahead of Middlesex going into the last round.

Sunkissed skies in Cardiff as Yorkshire take on Glamorgan. Picture: Chris WatersSunkissed skies in Cardiff as Yorkshire take on Glamorgan. Picture: Chris Waters
Sunkissed skies in Cardiff as Yorkshire take on Glamorgan. Picture: Chris Waters

"Overall, we’re pretty happy, to be fair,” said Wharton. “We’re in the driving seat (in terms of promotion), and this was a really good effort.

"Lots of people got starts, and then Hilly just played absolutely out of his skin, he played unbelievably well.

"I rode my luck today, felt horrendous and was disappointed to get out the way I did, but we’re in a great spot, and that’s the main thing.”

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The pitch for this game, apparently shaved at both ends and enough to persuade Yorkshire to pick two spinners, was so far over to the pavilion side that even gentle nudges were prone to disappear to the boundary.

Lyth certainly needed no second invitation to test out his off-driving in that region when Tim van der Gugten played to his strengths early on, Lyth three times finding the rope inside the first three overs - the last shot seeing him to 14,500 first-class runs.

Glamorgan did not seem to make the best of what early help was on offer, Lyth and Fin Bean relatively untroubled in raising a 50 stand for the first wicket inside 15 overs.

It was not quite a case of you couldn’t see where a wicket was coming from, but it was still a surprise when two did fall in quick succession as both openers departed in the final 45 minutes before lunch.

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Bean went lbw to Andy Gorvin, and then Lyth was trapped by the same man four short of his fifty, a much more adjacent-looking verdict as he tried to jab down.

It meant that Lyth chalked off the 33 he needed going into the game to raise 1,000 first-class runs for a second successive season, the milestone reached with a textbook cover-driven boundary off debutant Ben Morris, the 20-year-old seamer, as Lyth held the pose in the South Wales sunshine.

At lunch, Yorkshire’s position was a healthy 100-2, with Wharton and Tattersall into double figures.

There had certainly been nothing to suggest that Glamorgan made the right decision to insert Yorkshire, a move rendered more curious, perhaps, by the fact that they are also playing two specialist spinners in Ben Kellaway and Mason Crane, presumably hoping the pitch will break up.

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After lunch, Wharton and Tattersall lifted their stand to 93 with calm efficiency. Again, it seemed there was no real sign of a wicket going but then three fell annoyingly from Yorkshire’s perspective.

Tattersall was caught behind trying to pull a long hop from Crane that was drifting down leg, Jonny Bairstow flashed to point, and then Wharton pulled down long-leg’s throat. Suddenly, 178-2 was 194-5, the pendulum of power back in the balance.

Hill and Bess settled things in the run-up to tea, which Yorkshire took at 243-5, before extending their stand to 102 in 20.2 overs when Bess was the first of two wickets just before the second new ball.

The spinner was lbw trying to sweep Crane before Jordan Thompson was bowled playing back trying to force Kellaway through the offside.

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The second new ball travelled, not least from the bat of Hill, whose last three Championship appearances have brought him a career-best century, a six-fer and now this. He drove handsomely and pulled with power, especially against Crane, before edging to the keeper late in the day, Matty Fisher and Ben Coad also falling to catches behind the wicket to ensure that Glamorgan would have to bat for two overs.

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