Yorkshire Openers Lay Foundations For Gloucestershire Win
Yorkshire secured a first win of the County Championship season after openers Adam Lyth and Finlay Bean helped to set up an innings victory against Gloucestershire.
Returning to action in the four-day game after the first raft of fixtures in the T20 Blast, the Vertu Motors-backed side lost the toss at Scarborough but were put in to bat by Graeme van Buuren but Lyth and Bean then put the visitors to the sword – leading to questions over the decision taken following the toss.
On what would prove to be a record-breaking opening day of action, the pair put on an opening partnership of 307 before Bean was caught off the bowling of van Buuren for 164; an innings that included six sixes.
It marked the highest opening partnership ever seen at the venue, beating the previous mark of 246, and was the first time Yorkshire had passed 300 for the first wicket in a decade.
After Bean’s dismissal, Lyth followed shortly afterwards when he was bowled by Ajeet Singh Dale for 129, with James Wharton caught behind to leave the home side on 348-3 overnight.
Gloucestershire’s bowlers enjoyed much better fortunes on the second morning to dismiss the hosts before lunch. Singh Dale took a further two wickets as Yorkshire were bowled out for 456, with a late cameo from Jordan Thompson helping to boost the total after he smashed a quickfire 44 from 28 balls.
The visitors made a solid to their reply as openers Ben Charlesworth and Cameron Bancroft put on 62 for the first wicket, with Ollie Price then coming in bat and he looked to be building a solid partnership with Charlesworth before he fell to the final ball of the afternoon.
When Miles Hammond was then bowled by Dom Bess, it kicked off a run of relatively quick wickets as Gloucestershire closed on 168-7 – still well short of the Yorkshire total.
Taking the remaining three wickets on the third morning to bowl their rivals out for 197, Yorkshire elected to force the follow-on with Gloucestershire still trailing by 259 runs
After Charlesworth was bowled by Vishwa Fernando in the second over, Bancroft and Price combined to take the score past 50 but were both then removed within an over, with James Bracey and van Buuren following suit shortly afterwards to leave the visitors on 82-5.
Although Zaman Akhter put up a fight with a battling 70 that included three sixes, Gloucestershire would eventually be bowled out for 237 to give Yorkshire the win by an innings and 22 runs.
The 22 point haul – following on from five draws in the first seven matches – leaves Yorkshire sitting third in the standings in Division Two.
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