Yorkshire have seized control at the halfway stage of their LV= Insurance County Championship clash with Northamptonshire at Wantage Road, with Matthew Revis to the fore on day two.
Revis, along with Dom Bess, stood out for the Headingley side as Northants were strangled in reply to 296, advancing to 26-2 overnight to 204 all out after tea.
Yorkshire then responded with a second-innings 85-1 from 24 overs to extend their lead to 177. Adam Lyth top-scored with an unbeaten 41.
All-rounder Revis, the 20-year-old playing his third first-class game, claimed 3-43 from his 12 overs of rapidly improving seamers and added a fine diving catch running back from short fine-leg.
England off-spinner Bess helped to ratchet up the pressure on Northants with figures of 2-31 from 22 overs through the middle of the day.
Captain Steve Patterson also contributed significantly, conceding only 14 runs from his 15 overs, while Jordan Thompson added two more wickets to those late on day one to finish with 4-54 from 16.5 overs.
Yorkshire made the ideal start to a chilly Midlands day, which started overcast and brightened up later on.
Thompson struck first in the day’s second over when he had nightwatchman Matt Kelly caught behind off a top-edged pull – 26-3.
New Zealand overseas batter Will Young and left-handed Emilio Gay then advanced the hosts to calmer waters with some handsome strokeplay against Thompson and Haris Rauf, who would have been frustrated to concede eight boundaries in a six-over period at one point.
But Revis was quickly into the action to definitely swing things Yorkshire’s way on a pitch which is offering signs of some uneven bounce despite being largely good to bat on.
He uprooted Young’s off-stump for 33 and had Saif Zaib caught behind in the 31st and 33rd overs of the innings, as Northants fell from 81-3 to 85-5.
It could have been even better for Revis and Yorkshire had Thompson held onto a catch at cover with Gay on 21 shortly before those two wickets.
As it was, left-handed Gay was able to remain and play a key role in getting his side just top side of 200 at the start of the evening session by top-scoring with 65 off 162 balls.
He saw Rob Keogh depart to Bess shortly before lunch, where Northants reached at 115-6 after 44 overs.
Keogh top-edged a sweep and was the victim of a superb sprawling catch by Revis, who turned from short fine-leg, ran and held on to the catch superbly.
The afternoon session was an attritional one.
Northants scored only 72 runs in 35 overs for the loss of two wickets.
Gay and fellow left-hander Luke Procter, the former Lancashire all-rounder, dug in to complete a seventh-wicket 49 inside 29 overs.
At one stage after lunch, they only scored nine runs in an 11-over period against Bess and the metronomic Patterson.
In many ways, Bess started a perfect off-spinner’s performance. Keep things dry in the first innings and chip away at the odd wicket before leading the charge for victory in the second innings.
Gay reached a 102-ball fifty in the early stages of the afternoon before falling to Bess, caught at leg slip by Harry Brook as he aimed to clip one to long leg. That left Northants at 164-7 after 71 overs.
Revis then added a third wicket to his impressive day when he had wicketkeeper Lewis McManus caught low down at second slip by Lyth – 181-8 after 76.
There was initial doubt over the validity of the catch, though umpires Peter Hartley and David Millns were quick to send the Hampshire loanee on his way.
Pakistan overseas star Rauf, now bowling with the new ball, uprooted Gareth Berg’s off-stump with a searing delivery after tea (189-9 after 82) before Thompson wrapped up the innings by trapping Ben Sanderson lbw nearly three overs later.
Yorkshire openers Dimuth Karunaratne and Lyth then raced out of the blocks in the second innings.
They reached 57-0 after only 11 overs, with Sri Lankan Karunaratne leading the way before being bowled by Procter’s seamers for 36 with the score on 73 six overs later.
