JAMES COYNE AT WANTAGE ROAD: It was another close game between these two teams, but again it was Yorkshire that celebrated as they played their title muscle
Northampton (third Day of Four): Yorkshire 158 & 217, Northamptonshire 170 & 152 – Yorkshire won by 53 runs
Scorecard
And so the hegemony of the north was confirmed.
As this first attempt at a conference system in the history of the LV = insurance circuit championship, it was certainly the four games against Yorkshire and Lancashire which turned out to be the biggest barrier Northamptonshire break into the first two.
And with three losses and one near-rash in their four games against these Roses powerhouses, Northants could be forgiven for a slight inferiority complex. After all, they haven’t beaten any of these teams in the championship since 2005.
But actually, in their two meetings with Yorkshire, they were on an equal footing. Yorkshire snuck home with just one run in the epic, excruciating showdown at Headingley in early May, and there has been very little between these teams this week to date, which encouraged the thought of a repeat Humdinger with Northants’ lower order. And we’re almost there.
But when Harry Brooks massaged Yorkshire’s lead over and over again this morning this morning, it was all about charging Northants too much – on a rotating field used on three previous ones T20 explosion Games – to chase 206, even if there was certainly no lack of incentive for them. Indeed, cAfter David Ripley went so far as to say Northants should be tracking that type of score more than half the time. But they always appeared as the second favorite.
When Northants set out on their tricky path at 12:35 p.m., Dom Bess – seven wickets in the first innings – was the main threat. But perhaps fatally, with the floodlights on, they gave their first two wickets to metronomic Steve Patterson, including the crucial wicket from Northants’ top batsman Ricardo Vasconcelos pinned on the fold.
When Charlie Thurston gave Patterson on short leg straight into the hands of a perfectly placed Gary Ballance, Northants had to climb a mountain.
Forget Jimmy Anderson’s 1,000 first wickets; Patterson wants to hit 500 himself before he hangs up his own bowling boots at some point in the not-too-distant future.
Luke Proctors 42 gave Northant’s brief hope
The Beverley kid may even agree that he’s about half as good as the Burnley Lara – which, by the way, still makes him a hell of a county bowler.
Just as important today was Yorkshire’s excellent catch with sharp chances in short legs, briefs and short covers as well as a run-out into the mix.
Yet Patterson’s side began to feel some nervousness when Tom Taylor, the number 7, whose brilliant ball game saved one final T20 quarter-finals in their debut for Northants against the Birmingham Bears last year, decided it was best to do so so treat a blast night.
And so the reverse sweeps and rounds came as he and Luke Procter (who returned to the game today after missing day two for personal reasons) nailed Yorkshire in a sixth wicket booth of 54 negating Bess’ move, and the hit rate was high enough to encourage Northants to get there if they could string a large partnership together.
But when Taylor snatched one too many away from Ben Coad – straight and full with the keeper to the stumps – Northants was six behind and still 108 behind.
There is certainly no shortage of players washing around unfulfilled in their home country until they were lured to Northampton by David Ripley. Procter and Kerrigan are two more, and they extended the bout well after tea, putting on a confident 49 for the ninth wicket.
But when Kerrigan was bounced out by Duanne Olivier for 29, it was the curtain: Ben Sanderson was lbw two balls later and Yorkshire had won by 53 runs.
Duanne Olivier was the Yorkshire Bowlers’ pick in the second innings
And so, Brooks stood out like a beacon in a low score game by hundreds. A few days after his impressive 91st knockout against Lancashire in the Blast, he resumed this morning in a similar fashion, going from 76 not overnight to 113 in an hour and 20 minutes before finally burying himself deep in Midwicket End of Yorkshire’s second innings.
Although he rose to top-notch cricket in a whirlwind, it was only his third century in 42 games.
His captain Patterson said, “Harry has played wonderfully all season. He’s got some good results in the championship and obviously done very well in the Vitality Blast. I am delighted. In a low score game, it made all the difference.
“It was two fantastic cricket games against Northants, back and forth for both sides. In a way, Northants didn’t deserve to lose both games because they played great cricket consistently. It started to get a little nervous when we were 50. “
Next up for Yorkshire is the Roses match, which has been moved from Scarborough to Headingley due to Covid-19 circumstances.
“We are now clear enough on the points to qualify for the top flight, which is our overall goal, but with the point system, what it is like to transfer the points from teams that you have played is important that we get something positive. ” Score against Lancs if we can. We were beaten pretty badly by them at Old Trafford.
“What we don’t want is to get into this last group and be 20 points behind before we even start. They lost a couple of players to this new English team and we have a couple with England so it’s going to be a good game of cricket. “
As for Northants, the best they can hope for for the remainder of the season is the championship’s new “Division Two” – the stage they thought they had finally escaped from until Covid-19 showed up to one To thwart the bill.
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