Yorkshire v Surrey County Championship Div 1 at Headingley May 16-19

Neil Whitaker reports

SURREY  justified captain Rory Burns decision to put Yorkshire into bat after winning the toss by dismissing Yorkshire for 255 inside 81 overs at the KIA Oval with their five bowlers sharing wickets. 

Tom Lawes who took three for 77 said: “It was a very good day, the pitch played better than we thought.  We would have bitten your hand off this morning to get them out for 255.  We all bowled well and I thought that Jordan Clark was impeccable, Nathan Smith was aggressive.”

Yorkshire captain Jonny Bairstow top scored with 89, his highest Rothesay championship score of the season but he is still searching for his first century at the Kia Oval in any cricket.

He came into bat at 87 for three in the fourth over after lunch. Immediately he was on the attack.  Clipping Matty Fisher off his legs to the mid-wicket boundary and later in the cover he glanced Fisher to the fine leg boundary.  He wasn’t in a mood to hang about as he raced to 40 from 41 balls.  But he came close to losing his wicket in consecutive balls from Clark.  The first had Bairstow playing and missing, the second had everyone in the crowd not believing that the ball had missed Bairstow’s stumps.

Bairstow reached his 50 which came from 64 balls with an on drive off Smith. He hit 10 fours in his 50.  He thumped Fisher to the long-on boundary for the  shot of his innings. In Fisher’s next over he hammered Fisher to the long-off boundary.

He  top edged a sweep off Lawrence to Lawes at deep backward square leg. His dismissal was the first of four for 42 in the evening session.  Lawes added: “He scored quickly and it was important that we got him out when we did before he could take the game away from us.”

Yorkshire batting coach John Sadler said: “We left a few runs out there but we didn’t get that big partnership.  The ball did  more when the effects of the roller wore off,  I thought Bairstow played magnificently and nobody is more frustrated than with the  way he got out.  We had control of the game but there were a few soft dismissals. We’ve got to be more ruthless, that’s been  the story of our season but  we look forward to coming back tomorrow.”

Put into bat by Surrey on a greenish pitch but under hot sunshine Adam  Lyth had a torrid time in Smith’s sixth over by playing and missing and he ended the over by nearly playing on. 

On nine Finlay Bean glanced Lawes off his legs to Dan Lawrence at backward square leg but he put the chance down. After that Bean grew in confidence but he edged an expansive drive off Lawes which was too close to and Kurtus Patterson at third slip took a comfortable catch.

Josh Wharton got a brute of a delivery from Clark, at the Micky Stewart members’ Pavillion end, that he had to play at and  Ben Foakes took the ball as it was still rising.

Lyth drove his ex-teammate Fisher sublimely to the extra cover boundary for his shot of the day. Another drive off Fisher to the cover boundary brought up Lyth’s  50 from 117 balls with five fours. But on  44 he top edged a pull off Lawes but luckily for Lyth the ball fell wide of Ravi  Patel at mid-wicket.

Smith took his first Championship wicket of the season, in his second match, and it was a snorter of a delivery to get get rid of the Championship leading run scorer Adam Lyth.  Lyth who came into the match with an average of 60 looked unmovable as he stubbornly resisted the Surrey attack until Smith one to rise at Lyth who gloved it to Foakes.

Saddler  added: “Lyth played beautifully and showed his class and why he’s played international cricket but he was got out by a ball that just hit his glove.”

Jonny Tattersall helped a short ball from Lawes down the legside but Foakes changed direction and dove to his left and took a brilliant one handed catch in his left hand diving to his left.

Hill got bogged down by Smith and Clark that eventually George  Hill lost patience and drove at Clark but edged him and Dom Sibley at third slip took a good catch  moving to his left in front of second slip.

With the last ball of the afternoon session Fisher finally got some reward when he managed to kiss the edge of Matt Revis’ bat and gave Foakes another catch with  Bairstow they added 49 in 13  overs.

Jordan Thompson hit three boundaries off one over from Lawes the first two were gracefully driven to the cover boundary, the latter of which he got on his toes.  The last boundary was thumped to the long-on boundary.

Ben Coad chipped Lawrence back to the bowler who took a good return moving to his right in front of Thompson at the non-strikers end. Thompson hooked Lawes, who cramped Thompson up for room, straight to Jason Roy on the fine leg boundary looking into the sun.

More by luck than management Jack White hit two fours off Lawes when he backed away and slapped Lawes to the cover boundary.  Clark took the new ball and wrap the innings up with the fourth ball when Jordan Buckingham tried to turn him to leg but missed the ball and was hit full on his pads and almost gave himself out.

Day 2

AUSSIE  Kurtis Patterson hit 85 on his Championship debut for Surrey at the Kia Oval as Surrey made it a long day for the Yorkshire fielders

When the 32-year-old Patterson made his way to the crease in the sixth over of the day he hit  his first ball to the mid-off boundary it looked certain that he would become the first Surrey player to hit a century on his Surrey debut since Adam Holioake did it in 1993.  He ended the over by blasting Jordan Buckingham to the cover boundary. 

Patterson helped a short ball from Buckingham on its way to the fine leg boundary to bring up the Surrey hundred.  He  pulled Matt Revis’ first ball which was a slow chest high bouncer  to the square leg boundary as 13 came from Revis first over.

On 60 he pulled Buckingham to James Wharton on the fine leg boundary but Wharton put the chance down.  Patterson ended the over by creaming Buckingham to the cover boundary.

With Dan Lawrence he added 112 in 25 overs and would have added more if Lawrence hadn’t been hampered by an injury to his back which restricted his movements. But he did  hit Jordan Thompson for consecutive boundaries: the first was straight and the second was whipped to the mid-wicket boundary.

He said: “We are in a fantastic position, we would have taken that at the beginning of the day if you had asked.  I think that the new ball is going to be important  for us when we bowl again. After the newness goes it does get softer after that. The pitch has still got a bit of life in it.  But we bat all the way down to number 11 and if they can stay out for a while it gives our bowlers more time to rest.  I feel really happy here and everyone’s made me feel at home since I got here and I couldn’t believe the amount of people that were here yesterday.”

After the 47th over Yorkshire managed to convince the umpires to change the ball and immediately Patterson played and missed at Buckingham, in the next over Jack  White almost cut Lawrence in half.

But then the bat took control for seven overs.  Patterson drove Buckingham to the extra cover boundary for his shot of the day and he pulled the next ball for a six over fine leg to bring up the hundred partnership with Lawrence.  On 85 he turned for two but Lawrence sent him back  and Patterson beat Jonny Bairstow’s direct hit.

As so often happens in cricket when you break a partnership the other partner soon follows him back in the hutch.  In the  54th over Lawrence was trapped in front by Ben Coad.  Without adding to the score Patterson was following Lawrence back to the hutch as he  played down the wrong line to George  Hill’s first ball back into the attack. Patterson threw his head back at the decision in disappointment  with the shot.

Yorkshire now faced the prospect of having Ben Foakes and Jason Roy at the crease and they didn’t disappoint the Surrey fans. They added 67 but they could have and should have added more.  Roy took a couple of paces down the pitch to Lyth and launched him into the Micky Stewart members’ pavilion to bring up the Surrey 250 and the 50 partnership with Foakes. On the stroke of tea Thompson nearly broke the partnership when Foakes got an inside edge to Thompson which somehow missed the stumps and the ball  wide of a diving Bairstow.

After tea Jonny Tattersall replaced Bairstow behind the stumps, with the fourth ball after tea Adam Lyth broke the partnership between Roy and Foakes.  Roy edged Lyth to Hill at slip who at first caught it, dropped it and caught it again before it hit  the ground. Foakes carried on and  hit his fifth Championship 50 of the season.  He drove Coad straight and then cut the next ball to the cover boundary to bring up the Surrey 300.  After hitting Hill for two consecutive fours to take him 13 short off a century he feathered Hill to Tattersall behind the stumps to give Hill his fourth wicket of the day.

Hill said: “It was tough out there against a very good side.  We bowled well at times but when we missed our lengths they punished us.  But I can’t fault our efforts.  If we bowl really well, tomorrow you never know. On a pitch like that if you miss your lengths you can go for a few but if you hit the pitch hard there’s something there. I thought Patterson batted very well and put us under pressure.”

Ryan Patel drove White to the long-on boundary for his second boundary. He pushed across one from Hill and Lyth at second slip took a low catch.

Yorkshire kept it tight in the opening 30 minutes restricting Surrey to 10 runs in six overs and got their reward with the wicket of Rory  Burns.  White bowled a couple that came back at Burns and then got one to leave him, found his edge and Hill at first slip pouched a simple catch.

Buckingham drifted one into Dom Sibley pads and he helped it on its way to the long-on boundary and he finished the over with a straight driven four.  Just as he was looking set he went too far over to Hill who nipped it back and was plumb leg before.

Day 3

SURREY’S Jordan Clark hit his third Rothesay Championship 50 of the season, passing 2,000 first-class runs for Surrey as he did  and taking two wickets in Yorkshire’s second innings.

He reached his 50 when he turned  Jack White off his legs for a single to mid-wicket. But the conditions on the third morning were not conducive to batting,  in overcast conditions White and Ben Coad both had Clark and Nathan Smith playing  and missing but when  Clark got a thick thick edge to White and ran a single the throw was wide and he got four overthrows. 

Smith edged White just short of George  Hill’s left hand and ran to the boundary to bring up the Surrey 400 and the 50 partnership between him and Clark off 61 balls. 

They  added 61 in 72  minutes, adding 94 to the partnership, Smith was trapped on the crease and hit on the shin  by Hill to give Hill his second five wicket haul in consecutive Championship matches.He said: We knew that if we got to 500 that would give us the momentum for the rest of the day.

  The Yorkshire bowlers put the ball in the right areas but we kept the scoreboard moving.”After 52 overs the umpires changed the ball and Yorkshire got the wicket of Clark with it when Thompson nipped one back in at him which uprooted Clark’s  off stump. Now it was time for the wicket pair Tom Lawes and Matty  Fisher to have  some fun.  First Lawes thrashed Matt Revis to the long-on boundary then Fisher uppercut Revis over the slips for a one bounce four to bring up the Surrey 500 and Fisher became the 11th member of the team to reach double figures in the innings. He was the last   out when he edged Jordan Thompson and that man Hill took the catch at first slip in front of his face.

 Hill finished with five for 66.Trailing by 257 Yorkshire lost an early wicket when Finlay Bean’s poor run of form continued when he edged Smith in the ninth over.  Smith bowling around the wicket angled one in at him which left Bean and Ben Foakes took a low catch to his left.They went two down when Adam  Lyth, who reached double figures for the 29th consecutive time, edged one from Clark bowling around the wicket like Smith angled one into him and kissed his edge and Kurtis Patterson at third slip took a low catch to his right.

 On four, Jonny Tattersall  pulled Clark into Ryan  Patel’s stomach at short leg but Patel didn’t have time to react.  Up to tea Tattersall had a torrid time against his former teammate Fisher and couldn’t lay bat on ball but when he did he starved James Wharton of the attack.  When he did play a shot in anger it got him out.  He tried to thrash Clark to the cover boundary without moving his feet, edged it and Dom  Sibley at second slip took the catch in front of his face. Tattersall faced 82 balls for his 12 in 102 minutes.

 Wharton and Jonny Bairstow counter attacked adding 84 in 17 overs before Fisher got the ball to reverse swing and bowled Wharton with that swing back in at him.Wharton played a beautiful drive off Lawes to the mid-wicket boundary for his shot of his innings.

He pulled Lawes to the mid-wicket boundary.  He reached his fourth Championship 50 of the season when he steered Smith to the third man boundary.Bairstow played like a man in a hurry, regularly finding the boundary despite nearly chopping Clark just wide of Sibley at second slip.
  
After 42 overs the umpires changed the ball and with the first Clark induced an edge from Bairstow which just fell short of second slip.But they were just blips as he closed in his second  50 of the match  which came off 39 balls. He pulled  Fisher for  consecutive sixes over fine leg.  Then the ball started to reverse swing.Lawes got two wickets in two balls when he was recalled into the attack, first Hill edged a drive off Lawes to Jason Roy at first slip for a duck.
   
Night watchman Jordan Buckingham who  came into bat with a runner was struck on his boot.Smith added: “We were in control all the time and we knew that Bairstow would play some shots. But we’ve still got four wickets to get, if we put the ball in the right areas.”Wharton said: “We were fighting back and I let them in and I am gutted.”

Day 4

IT took Surrey 73 minutes on the final morning to take the remaining four wickets to claim their second Rothesay Championship victory of the season as they beat Yorkshire by an innings and 28 runs at the Kia ova.

Jason Roy, playing his first Chammatch for five years said: “It's an incredible dressing room and we’ve put in a lot of effort after last week's defeat to put in a performance like we did in this match.  Our tactics were relentless and the bowlers did what the skipper asked them to do.

Those down from number six were relentless when they batted and they just kept it going from number six downwards and put us in a great position.  It was incredible to watch Kurtis Patterson bat and he set it up for the boys that followed him.

I have loved everything this weekend getting this win and it’s a special feeling in the dressing room. I am just enjoying my time here abd I will take it one day at a time.  We are in a nice position.  Last week it was hard because the Warwickshire pitch that they produced for us was flat.”

Yorkshire head coach Anthony McGarth said: “It’s disappointing to lose any game but we spoke before the game  how well we played last week, but against a very good side we couldn’t perform our skills with the bat and ball. And against a top side in this division you have to do it hour after hour and session after session, it’s about the first team that breaks.

We competed in parts but we lost wickets in clusters and we haven't been consistent. To be good in this league you have to be consistent. We need more individuals to stand up and believe.  We can’t just rely on four five guys.

I am still looking to be competing at the top and not  being involved in a  relegation battle. I believe that we are not in a position that we should be.  The five bowlers that we picked didn’t perform well enough.”

It took Surrey 45 minutes to get their first wicket of the day in overcast conditions when Tom  Lawes who after swinging the ball away from Matt Revis got one to swing back in and Revis was plumb leg before for 13.

The very occasional swing bowling of Ryan Patel, only bowling to get Surrey to the new ball quicker, got the vital wicket of Jonny Bairstow with one that swung back in at him. In the over at Micky Stewart member’s Pavilion end,  Patel was replaced by Jordan  Clark with the new ball. Ben Coad deflected the fifth ball with the new ball on to his stumps.

Jordan Thompson drove Lawes over cover for a six.  In the next over he pulled Clark to Nathan Smith at deep mid-on.

SCORECARD