Yorkshire v Worcestershire: Yorkshire finally get back on winning platform

RARELY has the term “can we play you every week?” seemed more appropriate.

Yorkshire’s ninth win of the season in all competitions was their fourth against a Worcestershire side they have now beaten twice in the Championship, once in the CB40 and once in the Twenty20 Cup.

But for the West Midlands county, a difficult season for Yorkshire might have been disastrous – certainly in the Championship.

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Some 94 days after they won their opening game of the season by nine wickets at New Road, Yorkshire finally achieved their second Championship victory of the season against the same opponents at sunny Scarborough.

To borrow another footballing expression, this was the equivalent of a patchy 1-0 win – not especially pretty on the eye, but effective.

In the final analysis, there was little to choose between the relegation rivals over four-and-a-bit days.

After winning the toss in excellent bowling conditions, Yorkshire dismissed Worcestershire for 168 and then, in much improved batting conditions, reached 258-9 before the critical phase of the match.

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Yorkshire’s last-wicket pair of Ajmal Shahzad and Ryan Sidebottom added 109 in 24 overs – the county’s seventh-highest 10th-wicket stand in Championship cricket, which lifted Yorkshire to 367 and a first innings lead of 199.

Worcestershire fought hard to score 332 in reply, their own tail flourishing as the final two wickets added 116 as Yorkshire’s fielding became frayed around the edges, before the home side eased to a target of 134 with six wickets and two-and-a-half sessions to spare.

Yorkshire resumed yesterday on 80-3 in their second innings, requiring a further 54 runs to claim the spoils.

Joe Root was unbeaten on 31 and Jonny Bairstow undefeated on 12.

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The weather was perfect for batting and there was no real prospect Yorkshire would make a mess of things.

Worcestershire had neither the bowling firepower nor atmospheric conditions in their favour to suggest the possibility of a miraculous comeback.

Indeed, the home team needed only 57 minutes and 15.3 overs to finish the job before a crowd of around 1,000, a decent attendance given the state of the game as spectators were tempted by the pleasant weather and, no doubt, by that rarity of rarities – a Yorkshire Championship victory.

There was a hint of a scare early on when Root inside-edged a ball from off-spinner Saeed Ajmal fractionally past his stumps for three runs towards the Peasholm Park boundary, but both Root and Bairstow soon settled into their stride.

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Bairstow used his feet well to drive Saeed to the mid-wicket boundary in front of the popular bank, while Root worked the ball around intelligently on both sides of the wicket.

It looked as though the fourth-wicket pair would lead Yorkshire home but Bairstow fell 16 runs short of the winning line.

The wicketkeeper was lured out of his ground by Saeed and smartly stumped by Ben Scott.

Bairstow made 33 from 60 balls with five fours and shared in a partnership of 60 with Root in 22 overs.

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Following Bairstow’s dismissal, Root immediately eased any lingering anxieties by flicking Jack Shantry off his legs for four towards the Trafalgar Road end.

The 20-year-old opening batsman then brought up a splendid half-century from 140 balls with five fours. It was Root’s fourth 50 in this year’s competition as he continues to impress in his first full season.

Gary Ballance – another creating a favourable impression in his first full campaign – strode to the crease intent on helping his side home following a hitherto mixed match on a personal level.

The 21-year-old left-hander had batted well during the first innings to score 51 – his fifth half-century in successive Championship games – but had blotted his copybook with four dropped chances at second slip, which, in other circumstances, might have proved costly. Ballance put those disappointments out of his mind to score the winning runs when he rocked back to drive Shantry to the cover boundary in front of the West Stand.