Yorkshire v Durham Vitality Blast July 5th

Yorkshire Vikings v Durham Jets T20 Vitality Blast Headingley 

YORKSHIRE Viking got their Vitality Blast campaign to a winning start  as they beat the Durham Jets by 44 runs  but the result was a sideshow the main focus was the fitness of Ben Stokes.

Playing in this match solely as a batsman as England  monitor his fitness  before the one day series with India he hit an unbeaten 90 but he didn’t prove his fitness.  His 90 included five sixes but after everyone there was no buzz about him and he looked tired.  Playing as an opener he didn’t time  a pull off Matthew Fisher but the ball still went into the building site, he flat batted Azeem Rafiq for a straight six into the crowd.  But his innings didn’t going until he was joined by Will Smith and they added 46 in five overs for the fourth wicket. 

Stokes  brought his fifty up in spectacular fashion by pulling Matthew Fisher over square leg into the East stand. He clipped Steven Patterson off his legs into the West stand for another six and pulled Tim Bresnan for a six into the East stand to take him into the eighties. 

Jets head coach Jon Lewis said: “Ben’s frustrated with himself because he thinks if he has hit an unbeaten 90 then we should have worn the game. But he keeps getting hit on the foot.  He got hit on it  the other day in a practice match and this morning he got hit in the nets. At the moment it’s his foot that’s hurting not his hamstring.  When he was batting he kept running on it and that’s what caused his discomfort when he was batting.

He is not doing anything at 75 or 80% he’s doing everything at 100%.  I think at the moment that he is ahead of his schedule but I would not pick him on Sunday for the one day international but in a weeks time I would.

At the start of his innings he couldn’t get the ball away he kept finding a fielder and in that power play they fielded very well.”

A fourth wicket partnership 110 in eight overs saw the Vikings to 200 in their 20 overs with Adam Lyth unbeaten on 92 and Jonny Tattersall, on his T20 debut hitting 53. Tattersall’s knock gave the Vikings their impetus.  When he came into bat Lyth was on 39 and when a delicate late cut  off Nathan Rimington took him into the forties while Lyth was on 51.

Tattersall’s 50 came from 26 balls with six fours. He could have and should have dismissed for seven  when he toe ended Collingwood  and Rushworth ran round from from mid onto take the catch but as he fell to the ground he spilled the chance he should have left it to mid off

After sedate start  Lyth burst into life  by hitting a big straight  six into the building site followed by a four through the covers off Paul Collingwood’s first over.  The thought of Tattersall nearing his made Lyth change his game and his knock became one that we have become accustomed to watching.

He got an outside edge to a drive off James Weighell that went for a six over long on and then he clipped Chris Rushworth off his legs for the first six into the West stand.

Put into bat the Vikings lost their first wicket in the second over when Tom Kohler-Cadmore got too far under a drive off Rushworth and gave Collingwood a comfortable catch at mid wicket.

The Vikings were luck not to be two down shortly after when Harry Brook before he had scored cut Weighell through the hands of Smith at point.  Brook then took the fight to the Jets hitting two big sixes on the legside.

Imran Tahir making his debut for his seventh county and he got his wicket at the end of his second over when Brook drove him to skipper Tom  Latham at long on.  

Gary Ballance  was surprised by the bounce of Ryan Pringle which took the shoulder of his bat and Latham took  a brilliant one handed catch.

Lewis added: “We missed three chances which could have made all the difference, I think they got 30 too many.”

In their chase Greig Clark top edged a pull off Jack Brooks and found Jack Leaning coming in from the square leg boundary.  Two balls later the Jets were two down when Collingwood was leg before.  Jets skipper Latham staged a mini recovery with a stand of 33 with Stokes before he gifted the Vikings a wicket.  He had to reach for a widish ball from Patterson and edged it to Brooks at backward point.

On 14 Smith drove Fisher but didn’t get enough power into his and it looked to be a dolly catchfor the incoming Leaning but he dropped the chance. In the next over he went down the wicket to Azeem Rafiq and lofted him into the West stand. Trying for another six he pulled Brooke to Azeem Rafiq on the square leg boundary.

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