Ben Coad hailed Adam Lyth’s one-handed slip catch to help Tim Bresnan get rid of Luke Wood as “one of the best I’ve ever seen”.
Coad was full of praise for Yorkshire’s slip cordon as the county took control of their Championship match against Nottinghamshire at Emerald Headingley, which has reached its halfway point.
Yorkshire will begin day three tomorrow with a lead of 257 with six second-innings wickets in hand.
Make no mistake, today was an all-round effort for the hosts, with Coad contributing three wickets to finish with 4-49 in Notts first-innings 188 as they replied to 256.
Jack Leaning claimed three catches at third slip this morning and later hit 37 not out, sharing a match-high partnership of 94 unbroken with captain Gary Ballance for the fifth wicket in Yorkshire’s second innings.
Ballance will begin day three unbeaten on 76.
But it was Lyth’s catch, one-handed diving to his right at second slip to help Tim Bresnan get rid of Luke Wood, which was the day’s magic moment.
“Lythy’s catch was one of the best I’ve ever seen,” said seamer Coad.
“That low to the ground as well, it wasn’t a nice height. To somehow get down there that quickly was an incredible effort.
“Our catching was outstanding. No slip catch is easy, and we know how good our lads are there.”
Watch Adam Lyth’s stunning catch below…
WHAT-A-GRAB – take a bow
lythy09</a> <br><br>L Wood - c A Lyth b TT Bresnan<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/YourYorkshire?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#YourYorkshire</a> <a href="https://t.co/BsNBmgRxC7">pic.twitter.com/BsNBmgRxC7</a></p>— Yorkshire CCC (YorkshireCCC) April 21, 2018
He continued: “It was a great day for us. You look back to the start of the first day and we weren’t in a great position. But the way we’ve fought back, we’ve put ourselves in a position. It’s really pleasing to see.
“It’s tough against the new ball, but it gets easier once you get through that. We showed that last night when we got a few wickets.
“To get them finished off this morning was really good for us. Then to get the start of a really big partnership between Gary and Jack, likewise.”
On his own performance, Coad said: “You always want to get off the mark as soon as possible as a bowler, so I was pleased to do that last night. It’s good for the confidence.
“To get a few under my belt first innings sets me up for the season, and hopefully it can carry on like this.”
And of Ballance, who posted a first-innings duck having aimed a cut shot at Jake Ball straight to point, he added: “Gary’s first-innings dismissal, 99 times out of 100 he hits it for four. It’s just one of those things. It was unfortunate.
“We know how good he is, and it was a proper captain’s knock today.
“The batsmen have been in really good shape over the winter, and they have put that into practice out in the middle. Hopefully we can push on to a really big lead.”
