Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWPix.com. Jack White bowls John Simpson at Scarborough this morning.
Yorkshire Day was celebrated in style as Dom Bess’s side completed a crucial innings and 128-run Rothesay County Championship victory over Sussex at Scarborough this afternoon, the White Rose’s third in 11 matches so far this summer.
Sussex started day four on 115-3 in their second innings, trailing by 208.
But they slipped quickly to 117-6 inside the day’s opening five overs and failed to recover, bowled out for 195 midway through the afternoon as new-ball seamer Matt Milnes starred with 5-31 from 16.4 overs – his first five-wicket haul in a Yorkshire shirt having joined from Kent ahead of 2022.
Milnes struck seven times in the match in all and new-ball colleague Jack White five. Adam Lyth and Matthew Revis had both hit first-innings centuries.
While Sussex were never likely to survive following the tumultuous opening 20 minutes of the day, they did make Yorkshire wait as Fynn Hudson-Prentice finished 52 not out from 156 balls, the third fifty-maker for the Hove side.
Yorkshire jumped out of the relegation courtesy of this success, which yielded 22 points to Sussex’s two.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWPix.com. Matt Milnes acknowledges the applause as he walks off with five wickets and a victory under his belt.
Seven points adrift of third-bottom Durham before this game, they are now 12 clear of the North East county, who were beaten at home by Surrey yesterday.
The White Rose are now only a point behind Sussex heading into the final three rounds of the season next month. Somerset away, Sussex away and Durham at home round off the Division One summer.
Yorkshire are seventh in the table on 126 points, also ahead of Essex on the same points haul courtesy of having one more win to their name. Depending on the result of in-play Worcestershire v Hampshire game, they could finish the day sixth.
Stand-in captain Bess watched Milnes and White make a dream start to the day, claiming three wickets for the addition of two runs in the first 26 balls to put Sussex in all sorts of bother at 117-6 in the 49th over.
Unbeaten overnight pair Danial Ibrahim and Daniel Hughes succumbed for 51 and 57 respectively added to the departure of captain John Simpson for a duck.
Milnes claimed the first two. Ibrahim was caught low down going to his left at second slip by Adam Lyth before Hughes was bowled playing back to one which kept low and cannoned into off-stump.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWPix.com. James Wharton appeals for a run out today.
Simpson was then bowled as he tried to leave alone one angled in from White.
Hudson-Prentice and Danny Lamb steadied the ship, but only for a short time as they added 26 before the latter was caught behind chasing a Will Sutherland wide ball – 143-7.
Australian overseas all-rounder Sutherland was playing his last match for Yorkshire this week before returning home to prepare for the home summer with Victoria. He played in the Vitality Blast and in three Championship matches.
His short stint in the latter yielded two wins and a draw.
Sussex reached lunch at 166-7, Hudson-Prentice with 32.
He played handsomely down the ground off seam, even using his feet against White on couple of occasion to find the boundary wide of mid-on.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWPix.com. Yorkshire’s players, including departing Australian Will Sutherland – third from left, celebrate victory over Sussex this afternoon.
Hudson-Prentice was excellent in reaching his fifty off 138 balls. By the time he got there midway through the afternoon, Sussex were 188-7 with 48 overs remaining in the day.
He shared 47 for the eighth wicket with Jack Carson, who was the eighth man to fall when caught by diving Lyth at slip low down to his right – 191-8
Replays suggest Carson was unfortunate to be given out, confirming the initial impression given by the batter stomping off the field. Things happened quickly from there, with Sussex falling almost 44 overs short of survival.
This was Milnes’ first five-wicket haul for Yorkshire as he comes to the end of his third year with the club. His last was for Kent. He has since suffered a nightmare with multiple back stress fractures.
But he was excellent here, polishing things off by getting Grinder Sandhu caught at point and then Henry Crocombe caught behind with a beauty for a golden duck.
Yorkshire now head into the Metro Bank One-Day Cup, which starts for them against Warwickshire here on Tuesday, brimming with confidence.
