Ottis Gibson admitted his frustration as Yorkshire were beaten in a final day thriller by Surrey at Scarborough today.
?Yorkshire lost by four wickets with three balls remaining as Surrey chased 227 in 44 overs, Ben Foakes finishing 42 not out and Aaron Hardie unbeaten on 40.
The county suffered their second defeat in eight games this season and have dropped to sixth place in Division One on 101 points, 64 behind the leaders with a game in hand.
“You never really find much to be proud about in defeat, but at the same time I am proud of the way we fought with some inexperience in the team – Tattersall playing his first game of the season and Luxton making his debut,” said the coach.
“But it’s another game lost.
“Every game we’ve played in four-day cricket this year has gone down to the last hour, so it says that we’re not conceding an inch. Over time, we’ll find a way to win.
“That’s been the one frustration this year. We’ve found ourselves in winning positions in a large number of games and haven’t been able to get across the line.”
Jonny Tattersall starred with 180 in his first game of the season in the first innings – as well as five dismissals behind the stumps – while Adam Lyth made 183.
“Tatts has had to wait for his opportunity, he’s been doing well in the second team,” said Gibson. “When you give players opportunities as a coach, you want to see them take them. For him to come in and get 180 was fantastic.”
Gibson pointed to late in the sides’ respective first innings as a key moment.
Yorkshire fell from 430-6 to 521 all out, while Surrey advanced from 378-6 to 515 all out.
“When you look at key moments, I feel like we could have had a 70-75-run lead in the first innings,” he said.
“They have a strong lower order who performed. We also have a decent lower order, but it didn’t perform to that level. That, in the end, was telling.”
Gibson expects Shannon Gabriel to recover from the hip injury which limited him to only three overs in Surrey’s second innings on day four in time to face Somerset at Taunton from Tuesday.
George Hill, meanwhile, will have a scan on an injured big left toe after being struck there when trapped lbw by Jamie Overton today. He is now a doubt for Saturday’s Vitality Blast Finals Day as a result.
