Champagne Cricket From Root Secures Unexpected Win

After having been outplayed by the formidable Durham, Yorkshire produced a rabbit out of the hat on day four and take the honours and the sixteen vital points for a win. The hero of the day was none other than our prodigy Joe Root who produced an excellent haul of 182 runs as he and Adil Rashid batted the Tykes to a shock victory after Paul Collingwood had set us the stiff total of 336 to chase.

Presumably for the first three days Yorkshire more than succeeded in lulling our hosts into a false sense of security with yet another abject first-innings batting fiasco. Having dismissed Durham for 237, the Tykes ought to have built a first-innings lead and put ourselves into a commanding position. Instead we followed in the dubious footsteps of Baldrick by conceiving a cunning plan. Assisted by inclement weather, our performance with bat and ball, not to mention the customary dropped catches, obliged Durham to declare their second innings in the sure expectation that the White Rose would wilt a second time. This calculation appeared initially justified when our top order duo of Adam Lyth and Phil Jaques both failed for the second time in the match to keep the scorer terribly occupied. In the event Jaques bagged a totally unacceptable pair. However, it was left to Rashid and especially Root to deliver the knockout blow after Durham had us reeling on the ropes. Although Joe Root was finally clean bowled with a measly single required for victory, up stepped big Brezza to score four off his first ball to clinch a most surprising, but most welcome win. Bravo Yorkshire!

Durham v YORKSHIRE; 24th-27th April; at Durham; Durham won the toss

Durham first innings: 237 (Mustard 70; Bresnan 4-41)

Yorkshire first innings: 177 (Onions 5-63, Stokes 3-26)

Durham second innings: 275 for 4 declared (Stoneman 109, Benkenstein 61*)

Yorkshire second innings: 339 for 6 (Root 182, Rashid 50*)

YORKSHIRE WIN BY FOUR WICKETS; Durham 4 points; YORKSHIRE 19 points