Picture by John Clifton/SWPix.com. Dom Bess claimed four of his seven wickets on day four.
Dom Bess completed a season’s best haul of seven for 162 from 35 overs during the final day of Yorkshire’s Rothesay County Championship draw with Surrey at Scarborough today.
Bess started the day with three wickets to his name and struck four times more either side of lunch as the reigning champions and current Division One leaders advanced their first innings from 338-4 overnight to 537 all out shortly after lunch.
They were replying to Yorkshire’s 517-6 declared, which including Matthew Revis’s 110 not out – the only centurion of this high-scoring 10th round contest.
Bess was actually captaining Yorkshire today, in the absence of Jonny Bairstow, whose partner Megan went into labour at 5am this morning. Harry Duke took the wicketkeeping gloves as a substitute fielder.
Yorkshire produced a sturdy performance this week, particularly so with the bat, in a match which was affected with the weather during the first two days.
Having reached 120-5 in their second innings when the players shook hands at 5.25pm, they accrued 13 points to Surrey’s 14 from their fourth draw of the campaign, but unfortunately slipped back into the bottom two places following Essex’s victory at Sussex.
Yorkshire are now seven points adrift of third-bottom Durham with four rounds remaining and eight behind Essex, who are fourth bottom. The White Rose face Sussex here at Scarborough next week. They are also within striking distance in mid-table, 21 points clear.
Surrey, meanwhile, maintained their single-point advantage at the top of the table ahead of Nottinghamshire.
This was off-spinning all-rounder Bess’s fourth career first-class seven-for and third for Yorkshire.
Surrey started the day on 338-4 and needed to reach 368 to avoid having to follow-on. It was a task they achieved with ease, despite new-ball seamer Jack White getting Ryan Patel caught at mid-off early doors for 92.
Wicketkeeper-batter Josh Blake advanced from 10 not out overnight to finish with 72 off 112 balls. It was his maiden first-class fifty in his third game.
The left-hander shared a sixth-wicket stand of 90 with Jordan Clark from 346-5, helping their side reach 450 inside 110 overs for the maximum five batting points.
Blake was inventive and classy before being stumped by Duke off Bess, leaving Surrey at 462-7. That came after Clark, for 39, had slog-swept the same bowler out to deep mid-wicket.
Bess then bowled Jamie Overton before, in the early stages of the afternoon, getting Sai Kishore caught and bowled and then Dan Worrall stumped, the latter ending a 10th-wicket stand of 50 with Matthew Fisher, 38 not out.
Up until the end of Surrey’s first innings, every single batter across both sides reached double figures.
Surrey have had all 11 batters pass double figures in an innings for the second time against Yorkshire this season. It has only happened to the White Rose on three occasions in Championship history.
The first batter not to post a double-figure score was Yorkshire opener Fin Bean, who edged Indian Kishore’s left-arm to slip for one with the score at 15-1. Overton took a fine one-handed catch going to his left.
Overton was the catcher again – this time more regulation – when Lyth also pushed forwards against Dan Lawrence’s spin, falling for 34 with the score 54-2.
Lawrence was the catcher at silly point after tea when Kishore ousted James Wharton for 25 – 66-3.
Will Luxton was next to go, caught at leg slip by Lawrence off Will Jacks’s off-spin, before the same bowler trapped Matthew Revis lbw as he offered no shot on the back foot – 108-5.
