Two From Three for Yorkshire As Blast Begins
Yorkshire made a solid start to the 2024 version of the T20 Blast with two wins form the opening three fixtures on a busy weekend of action.
The Vertu Motors-backed side kicked off the competition with two games in as many days, the first of which saw Worcestershire make the trip to Headingley.
Yorkshire were asked to field first but immediately took control of the game, with Worcestershire skipper Brett D’Oliveira falling to the fourth ball of the innings when he was bowled by Dom Leech.
Fellow opener Matthew Waite followed soon after as the first of four wickets for Dan Moriarty, who then had Josh Cobb caught to leave the visitors on 15-3.
Six wickets had fallen before Worcestershire reached 50 with Ethan Brookes and Gareth Roderick putting up brief resistance, but when Brooke was removed by Dom Bess for 42, the final four wickets followed soon after to set a target of just 102.
Given the strength of the Yorkshire top order, it was little surprise that the runs were knocked off with relative ease, with Adam Lyth hitting 55 not out from 33 balls, and Dawid Malan a quickfire 25 off 17 as Yorkshire won by eight wickets having required just 11.4 overs.
The following night saw Yorkshire head for the County Ground to face Leicester on what would prove to be a more challenging evening of action, with Shan Masood top scoring with 45 off 32 balls as the visitors made 151-7 from their 20 overs.
Any hope of defending that total disappeared early on when Rishi Patel and Sol Budinger went on the attack – smashing a partnership of 79 for the opening wicket before Patel fell in the sixth over.
Although Budinger followed soon after having reached his half-century, Leicestershire were well on course for victory and reached their target with overs to spare.
Yorkshire’s third game was another away trip to Northamptonshire, where the white roses went in to bat first, with Joe Root and Malan putting on 67 for the first wicket and both Masood and Bess also contributing quick runs to help set a target of 187 for victory.
Jordan Thompson had smashed 20 from seven balls right at the end of the innings and then played a major role with the ball, taking three wickets for just 18 runs from four overs.
Ricardo Vasconcelos and Ravi Bopara both passed 30 in the Northamptonshire reply but solid bowling across the board was decisive as Yorkshire took victory by 29 runs.
Check out the latest offers at Leeds Volkswagen