Ben Coad, Dan Moriarty and Dom Bess struck once apiece for Yorkshire, added to a run out, as the hosts had much the better of the 41 overs possible on day one of the Vitality County Championship clash against Glamorgan at Headingley, restricting Glamorgan to 109-4 at close.
Glamorgan, having elected to bat, reached 95-2 when rain hit the ground at 1.45pm and later, following a near four-hour delay, but later lost two wickets once play resumed to hand the hosts the advantage. Bad light ended the day early at 6pm.
Former Yorkshire junior Billy Root scored a measured 51 for Glamorgan, for whom he is opening the batting and playing against his older brother Joe.
Root was caught at short-leg off an inside-edge against Moriarty’s left-arm spin with the last ball of the morning having earlier been dropped on six by Joe at first slip off Coad – a tough chance diving one-handed to his right.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com – 03/05/2024. Dan Moriarty celebrates dismissing Billy Root.
Soon after, Coad had Eddie Byrom trapped lbw stuck on the crease, leaving Glamorgan at 18-1 in the seventh over.
Root shared 74 for the second wicket with his captain Sam Northeast, the former Yorkshire loanee who went on to make 29 and was one of the two evening wickets to fall under floodlights – run out by Matthew Fisher in his follow-through.
Left-handed Root drove nicely, pulled, swept and reverse swept his way to six boundaries on the ground where he scored a century in the 2021 draw between these two counties.
This is the third Championship match in which the two Sheffield brothers have played against each other, while there was another one-day meeting when Billy was a Nottinghamshire player.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com. Billy Root celebrates his half-century.
The previous two Championship matches were in the first half of 2021 – both draws. Billy scored that aforementioned century here and Joe a sublime 99 on a tricky pitch at Cardiff.
Yorkshire have come into this fixture, their fifth of the Division Two campaign, fielding two spinners in Moriarty and Dom Bess. The latter is making his first first-team appearance of 2024.
Ottis Gibson and Shan Masood have elected to play this game on the same pitch as last weekend’s draw against Derbyshire, and Yorkshire are fielding two spinners in a Championship match at Headingley for the first time since August 2013 when Adil Rashid and Azeem Rafiq played together in a draw against Warwickshire.
Since then, spinners such as Keshav Maharaj, Ajaz Patel, Jack Shutt, Josh Poysden, James Middlebrook and Karl Carver have been and gone. But never did they play in a side at Headingley alongside another frontline twirler.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com. Ben Coad celebrates dismissing Eddie Byrom.
Neither Moriarty or Bess played against Derbyshire last weekend, and they have come into the side in place of seam bowling all-rounders George Hill and Jordan Thompson.
Only one over was bowled after lunch before the rain arrived, with no play between 1.45pm and 5.30pm.
When play did resume, under floodlights, Northeast was run out with the second ball back when Fisher got a hand on a crisp drive from Kiran Carlson in his follow-through and deflected it onto the stumps at the non-striker’s end – 96-3 in the 34th.
Further success came for Bess at the start of his second over when he had Carlson caught and bowled off an inside-edge, leaving the visitors at 97-4 in 37th over.
Picture by Dave Williams/cricketphotos. Both teams observe a minute’s silence in memory of Josh Baker.
Deteriorating light had forced Bess into the attack with umpires Newell and Blackwell deeming it unsafe for seam. But it worked in Yorkshire’s favour.
Bess finished with 1-14 from four overs and Moriarty 1-29 from 15.
Just before 11am today, both teams lined up to observe a minute’s silence in memory of Worcestershire spinner Josh Baker, whose death at the age of 20 was announced by the New Road club yesterday afternoon. Yorkshire and Glamorgan also wore black armbands.
Left-armer Baker played in the final Championship match of last season on this ground when he hit the runs which secured Worcestershire promotion to Division One.
