Picture by Eva Gilbert/Sussex Cricket. Ben Coad brilliant with the ball at Hove today.
“I’m ecstatic,” said Ben Coad as he discussed his superb match clinching five-wicket haul against Sussex Sharks at Hove today, his first ever in List A cricket.
Yorkshire were worthy winners in a Metro Bank One-Day Cup Group B clash interrupted briefly by rain. They triumphed by 184 runs on DLS, bowling Sussex out for 140 as they chased a revised 325 in 48 overs.
Coad took the new ball and returned figures of 5-12 from seven overs, including three in his first two as Sussex slipped to 7-3.
Earlier, he had watched Will Luxton hit a superb 117 off 115 balls and Sam Whiteman contribute an important 74 to Yorkshire’s imposing total of 325-7.
It always looked like being unassailable, and so it proved for a youthful, inexperienced Sussex side, who have now lost three from three.
The White Rose, meanwhile, have played three and won two, losing the other.
Coad only returned to first-team action last week, at the start of this competition, after a little more than three months away from first-team cricket with a torn side suffered in mid-April.
Not surprising, then, that he was chuffed to bits with his impressive ‘beside the seaside outing’.
“No hiding, it’s been a tough year, a tough couple of years for me, so it’s great to get my first five-for in List A cricket,” he said. “I’m really happy.
“There was a little bit of help out there for the bowlers.
“Luxy’s knock and Sammy’s knock were outstanding because there was a bit in the pitch. And, for us with the ball, obviously taking wickets helps keep that run-rate down because it’s a new man every time.
“But, yeah, just really happy with it and glad that I could get it in the right areas and get the wickets.”
Make no mistake, this was a significant win for Yorkshire, who have enjoyed the perfect weekend after a two-wicket triumph against Glamorgan at Neath on Friday.
Beaten in their opening game against Hampshire at Scarborough last Tuesday, they couldn’t really afford another early setback in a short and sharp group stage.
“100 percent,” continued Coad. “We had a bit of a slow start in that Hampshire game. But we knew what we were capable of. That win at Glamorgan was a bit of an ugly one, but it got us going. Today was more of a case of what we’re about.
“This is the standard we’ve set now, so that’s what we’ve got to follow up for the next few games.”
Luxton took the majority of the headlines with the bat today, hitting 12 fours and four sixes in his third first-team career hundred and second in this competition.
“Luxy’s been threatening to do something like that for a while now,” said Coad. “I mean, we’ve seen it coming from a long way. There’s no hiding his talent. He’s coming of age a bit this year and proving everyone in the club right that this is the kind of player he is.”
For Coad, personally, he mentioned recent frustrations earlier on before expanding.
“I played the first two Championship games and then got injured,” he said. “It’s been tough. I thought I was getting past those injuries in my career, but the last couple of years there have been a couple that have come back.
“Again, touch wood, hopefully that’s behind me and I can play a string of games now.
“I do all the rehab and prehab things, but I think it’s just kind of one of those things with fast bowling that kind of happens with muscular injuries. But I’ll always be trying to be as professional as possible and get my body right.”
This now sets Yorkshire up for a hugely exciting week, which sees them face defending champions Worcestershire at York on Wednesday before Durham visit the same venue on Friday, with Ben Stokes likely to play. And, then, not forgetting a trip to Lord’s next Sunday to face table-toppers Middlesex.
“York’s always a great turnout,” added Coad. “They do it really well there, so I’m really excited for those two games. If we perform like this, there’s no reason we can’t get a couple of wins again.”
