Yorkshire make it two wins from two in Vitality Blast
WHEN the inventors of Twenty20 cricket had their lightbulb moment, so long ago now that Facebook and X had yet to be invented, it was days such as this that they had in mind.
Perfect weather - not a cloud in the sky - and plenty of action for a packed house, too. It was almost enough to convert the heathen.
The sun had his hat on at Headingley on Sunday as Yorkshire and Derbyshire came out to play. It was Yorkshire who played the better on the day, running out winners by two wickets with four balls left.
The visitors batted first after winning the toss and scored 194-4, opener Martin Andersson making a career-best 81 not out from 56 balls with seven fours and a six. Ross Whiteley whacked an unbeaten 39 from 17 balls, with four fours and two sixes, to ensure they had a good score to defend.
Moeen Ali made his first fifty for Yorkshire – 51 from 35 balls with five sixes – but when he fell to leave the hosts 123-7 in the 15th over, it looked done.
Enter A.J. Tye (32 from 13 balls with four fours and two sixes) and Hasan Ali (31 from 12 deliveries with three sixes and two fours) to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat with a ninth-wicket stand of 56 from 23 balls, Hasan hitting the winning the run and then doing a mic drop with his bat.
It’s fair to say that Yorkshire have not had much luck with their overseas signings in recent times. Their first-choice ones for this competition, Naveen-ul-Haq and Will Sutherland, were both prevented from taking up their deals after suffering stress fractures of their bowling shoulder.
Neither Hasan nor Faheem Ashraf, his fellow replacement, were able to take part in the opening game at Notts on Friday - Hasan due to international duties, Faheem because of travel complications. But what a debut Hasan made here, with Faheem – having only just landed – set to make his bow at Durham on Friday.
In front of a Bank Holiday weekend crowd in summery garb, with spectators making the most of the heatwave conditions, Hasan struck the first blow on a bare-looking pitch.
With the final ball of his first over, the second of the innings from The Howard Stand end, he had Aneurin Donald skying to mid-on, where Tye took the catch.
Derbyshire reached 57-1 at the end of the powerplay but then lost two quick wickets as Caleb Jewell lofted Tye to Matty Revis on the cover boundary, Revis then striking with his first ball when Wayne Madsen lofted to Hasan at mid-off.
At the halfway stage it was 87-3, and Yorkshire could be pleased with their efforts considering that the pitch was true, the outfield fast, and with a short square boundary towards the West Stand.
Derbyshire kept wickets intact through the middle phase, Andersson and Matthew Montgomery adding 73 for the fourth wicket in 50 balls. Montgomery contributed 35 from 23 deliveries before he stepped to the offside in an effort to sweep leg-spinner Jafer Chohan, exposed his stumps and was bowled for his trouble.
Andersson went to his fifty from 36 balls with five fours and a six, and then beat his previous best in the format of 70. While Andersson dropped anchor, in Twenty20 terms anyway, the muscular Whiteley upped the pace, helping the visitors take 24 off the final over, sent down by Tye.
Whiteley clubbed the Australian for a six over long-on into The Howard Stand, then pulled a no-ball on height for another six, Tye once more struggling to stem the runs as he had on debut. Whiteley and Andersson’s unbroken stand at the end was worth 58 in 28 balls, George Hill the most economical bowler with 0-29 from four overs.
Adam Lyth hit successive leg-side sixes off Ben Aitchison in the second over of the chase, then launched another in the next over from Akif Javed. He followed up by on-driving Javed to the boundary before departing in disappointing style, gently spooning the same bowler to mid-wicket. Lyth scored 31 from just 11 balls, in the process passing 5,000 runs in the format.
Yorkshire lost their second wicket in the next over, the fourth of the innings, when left-arm spinner Jack Morley had Jonny Bairstow lbw trying to pull. The hosts lost a third wicket inside the powerplay when James Wharton stepped across his stumps and lobbed Nick Potts to backward square, Yorkshire 52-3 after six.
Moeen hit Morley for six over mid-on – a shot that took him past 8,000 T20 runs – before the spinner bowled Will Luxton as he attempted to launch. Moeen hit Morley for a similar six as Yorkshire got up to 85-4 at halfway, Revis following suit over the leg-side before he sliced the spinner to point. George Hill reverse-hit Montgomery to deep point, and Moeen was caught in the same position off Potts.
After Bess was caught at long-on off Morley, who took 4-44, Tye and Hasan produced their thrilling late show.