George Hill’s fine 90 off 115 balls was well supported by further fifties for James Wharton and Dom Bess as Yorkshire made a useful start to their penultimate round Vitality County Championship fixture with Glamorgan at sunny Sophia Gardens in Cardiff.
Second-placed Yorkshire started this week with a 15-point gap over third-placed Middlesex, knowing that a maximum haul of 34 points over the final two games would seal a return to Division One for the first time since 2022.
And, having been inserted, they were bowled out for 361 inside 92 overs, with Hill leading the way and Wharton and Bess providing support with 63 and 50. Glamorgan closed on 12-0 from two overs in reply.
Yorkshire will achieve promotion this week if they gain 10 more points against Glamorgan than Middlesex do in their clash with Derbyshire at Derby.
But Middlesex have started that fixture well. They bowled Derbyshire out for 173 before tea today and responded with 125-1.
All Yorkshire can do, though, is keep on accruing the points, and they did a decent job on a pitch without significant pace and signs of some uneven bounce.
Picture by John Heald. James Wharton celebrates a fifty today.
The pitch being used for this contest is over to the Pavilion side of the square, therefore one of the square boundaries is significantly shorter. It looks as though they have left some grass on to get some pace and carry, though each end looks as if it has been shaved to suit spin.
Both teams are playing two spinners, with Yorkshire having replaced batter Will Luxton with left-arm spinner Dan Moriarty. So Moriarty and Bess form an attack including the seam of Hill, Jordan Thompson, Matthew Fisher and Ben Coad.
This was far from a day of total domination for Yorkshire, more a healthy start with tinges of frustration that a number of players got in but failed to go on and convert their starts into a substantial score.
Adam Lyth made 46 and reached 1,000 Championship runs for the season in the process – a fine overall effort in 2024, Fin Bean made 23, Wharton his 63 and captain Jonny Tattersall 41.
Yorkshire were troubled by the bustling seam of Andy Gorvin, who stood out with 4-67 from 22.1 overs. He was the pick of a home attack missing the likes of Dan Douthwaite and Jamie McIlroy.
Glamorgan, who are second-bottom in Division One with only one win from 12, also have Sunday’s Metro Bank One-Day Cup final against Somerset at Trent Bridge to contend with.
Picture by John Heald. Adam Lyth hoists Ben Kellaway for six and went beyond 1,000 Championship runs for the season today.
Yorkshire made an impressive start through openers Lyth and Bean, who shared 67 inside 19 overs as Glamorgan’s bowlers took their time to settle.
They offered up too many boundary opportunities early on, highlighted by Lyth’s 46 including eight fours and a lofted straight six off Ben Kellaway’s off-spin.
But the Welshmen did improve, and Gorvin led the way – just as the 27-year-old had done with four wickets here last month in a One-Day Cup against Yorkshire.
He trapped Bean lbw and got Lyth the same way with one that nipped back appreciably, leaving Yorkshire at 85-2 in the 25th over.
Either side of lunch, Wharton and captain Tattersall – elevated to bat at four given the selection of the extra bowling option – reasserted the visitors’ authority.
Tattersall played with more touch and Wharton more force as they shared 93 for the third wicket, in which time the latter reached his fifty off 84 balls.
Picture by John Heald. Dom Bess is ending the season impressively with bat and ball.
But there was a period of frustration ahead as Glamorgan hit back to reduce the score from 178-2 in the 48th over – halfway through the day – to 194-5 in the 57th.
Tattersall was caught behind pulling at Mason Crane’s leg-spin, the dismissal a touch unfortunate to say the least. As the captain aimed to pull at one which kept low, he seemed to under-edge it onto his pad before it was caught by wicketkeeper Chris Cooke.
Jonny Bairstow followed for two, caught at backward point off Gorvin following an uncertain drive, before Wharton pulled the seam of James Harris down to wide long-leg, leaving the score at 194-5 in the 57th.
Still, there was time for Yorkshire to finish the afternoon well, and they did so through Hill and Bess, who added 49 through to tea – 243-5 after 64.
And they built on their good work after the break as well, securing batting bonus points one and two for reaching 250 and then 300.
Hill hit powerfully down the ground against former England spinner Crane en-route to a 65-ball fifty, backing up recent contributions of 169 not out in the Headingley draw against Middlesex and 6-59 in the second innings of last week’s win over Leicestershire at Grace Road.
Picture by John Heald. George Hill and Dom Bess celebrate their century partnership in Cardiff.
Bess is ending the season impressively too. He claimed seven wickets and hit 60 with the bat against Middlesex and added a valuable 33 at an important time against Leicestershire last week.
He reached his fifty off 67 balls today, but unfortunately was trapped lbw two balls later by Crane as the score fell to 296-6 in the 77th over.
As part of a 102-run partnership with Hill – the day’s highest – Bess was quick to latch onto anything short or full against seam and spin.
Thompson was bowled by Kellaway – 309-7 in the 80th over – before Hill moved towards what would have been a second century in three games.
He took three fours off Harris in the 84th over to move into the eighties before Fisher edged Timm van der Gugten to second slip with 338 on the board in the 87th.
A third batting bonus point for reaching 350 was secured with Hill and Coad at the crease, but that alliance was broken when Dutch-Australian seamer van der Gugten had Hill caught behind as he felt for one outside off-stump – 357-9 in the 91st. Gorvin then wrapped up Yorkshire’s first innings when Coad, on 14, edged to slip.
