Matthew Fisher helped to put Yorkshire in command against Durham with a stunning four-wicket burst, including the standout dismissal of Jack Burnham with a searing yorker. But the new ball quick has revealed it was a delivery which didn’t quite go to plan!
Yorkshire are on course for an opening round Bob Willis Trophy win at Emirates Riverside. Chasing 171, they will begin day four on 103-3 needing 68 more.
A weird and wonderful day three saw Durham bat through the morning session unbroken, advancing their second innings from 106-2 to 194-2, a lead of 98. After lunch, they lost six wickets for 18 runs against the new ball to be bowled out for 266 and put Yorkshire right back into the ascendancy.
Fisher did the bulk of the damage, including a dismissal of Burnham which will feature on many highlights packages and social media clips.
Middle and leg-stumps were out of the ground, with Burnham sprawled hands and knees on the crease line.
Fisher claimed four wickets for three runs in 19 balls and has never bowled better for Yorkshire in first-class cricket even though he has a five-wicket haul to his name against Warwickshire at Emerald Headingley in 2017.
A thing of beauty ????????????
Well bowled
9M_Fisher</a> ????<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/OneRose?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#OneRose</a> <a href="https://t.co/H1tmTXpnzt">pic.twitter.com/H1tmTXpnzt</a></p>— Yorkshire CCC (YorkshireCCC) August 3, 2020
“It actually came out wrong,” the 22-year-old said of the Burnham dismissal.
“I was more pleased with the Coughlin lbw because I got my wrist perfect for the in-swinger. I could feel it off the finger I release it off, and the seam was perfect.
“For the Burnham one, it was meant to be an in-swinger, but it came out a bit slower. I think that’s why it did him a bit.
“When it’s swinging about, I love bowling. I really enjoyed that spell.
“I’m buzzing about the wickets in my spell, but I’m perhaps more chuffed that I think that was my 38th to 42nd overs in the game, so that’s something really pleasing for me to be able to back it up.”
“The ball didn’t really do much after the new ball. The pitch went flatter. But I could get my swing back going when the other new ball came.
“At lunch when they were still two down and hadn’t lost a wicket in the morning, we still believed – but the belief was dwindling a little bit.
“We still knew that being patient and keeping them dry was keeping us in the game for as long as possible. But we knew we had to do something with that new ball. Thankfully we did to turn it back in our favour.
“That pressure and patience definitely paid off when we got the new ball.
“As a unit, we bowled so well in both innings. Everyone’s found a bit out of the pitch and used their skills really well. We’ve been relentless.
“We were looking at our match figures earlier, and everyone’s are brilliant. We’ve all got two or three wickets (all the seamers), which is pleasing.”
In Yorkshire’s chase after tea, they slipped to 4-2 before Dawid Malan (50 not out) repaired the damage with the help of Tom Kohler-Cadmore (24) and Harry Brook (23 not out).
“It’s a new ball pitch, and we knew if we got the ball soft after 15-20 overs, then it gets a lot flatter,” said Fisher.
“Chasing 170, they’re not going to get another new ball. So we just needed to get through that period unscathed, which we did alright. Mala and Brooky played brilliantly.
“We’ve not won it yet. There’s still 68 runs to score on that pitch. If they go bang, bang early, it becomes difficult. But we’re just in the box seat.
“We have to get through the first two or three overs and get the lads seeing the ball nicely again. Then we’ve got to be ruthless.
“That’s what our chat was at the end, ‘Make sure you’re the one who knocks the runs off. Don’t leave it to anyone else’.”
