Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com. George Hill acknowledges the applause as he claims his third haul of five wickets or more in as many Championship matches.
George Hill continued his superb form with the ball to claim a third haul of five wickets or more in as many matches during an opening day of Rothesay County Championship cricket at Headingley which saw the balance of power constantly shift between its two combatants, Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire.
Hill claimed six wickets in the first innings of the draw at Essex earlier this month before adding five more in the defeat at Surrey. Here, as Nottinghamshire were bowled out for 228 inside 82 overs, he claimed 5-40 from 20 overs to take his season’s tally to 32 – the joint most in the country.
Half-centuries from opener Ben Slater and fellow top order batter Joe Clarke – 52 off 111 balls and 64 off 151 – advanced the Notts’ cause. Jordan Thompson claimed three wickets and a fine catch, while Jack White struck twice.
Yorkshire faced 12 overs in reply before close and reached 10-2, with Pakistan Test seamer Mohammad Abbas striking twice.
Yorkshire’s performance with the ball was better than the outcome suggests having won the toss and inserted a Trent Bridge side who currently sit top of Division One with three wins from six.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com. Jack White (left) and George Hill were excellent with the ball today.
There will also be frustration on their part too given they fell from 192-5 during the evening having done the hard work through the opening two sessions. They lost their last five wickets for 36.
There was fortune in their progression against a White Rose side who sit second from bottom in Division One.
All through the day, they played and missed, and it would have been no surprise to see them bowled out much cheaper. New-ball seamer White was particularly impressive early on and finished with 2-23 from 16.2 overs.
But you have to give Notts credit for fashioning a total which could be very useful, as you do Yorkshire’s bowlers for staying disciplined, keeping the scoring rate in check and getting their rewards late on.
Locum captain Dom Bess elected to bowl this morning and utilised five seamers for the majority of the day. He only bowled two overs of off-spin just before tea.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com. Jordan Thompson was a crucial contributor for Yorkshire today, claiming three wickets and a fine catch at third-man.
White made the initial breakthrough when he removed visiting skipper Haseeb Hameed, brilliantly caught one-handed at point by James Wharton diving low to his right, leaving the Trent Bridge county at 9-1 in the sixth over.
Slater then shared a second-wicket 56 with fellow left-hander Freddie McCann (28) as Yorkshire pushed and probed.
McCann fell just before lunch with the score on 65, caught low down at first slip off Thompson. And when the same bowler clipped Slater’s off-stump shortly after lunch, the score fell to 102-3 in the 38th over.
That it was the first of three wickets to fall for 19 runs inside nine overs changed the complexion of things somewhat, with Notts slipping to 121-5 in the 47th.
New England Lion Hill bowled Jack Haynes shouldering arms and shortly afterwards bowled South African Kyle Verreynne through the gate.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com. Joe Clarke top-scored for Nottinghamshire with 64.
Clarke then shared a sixth-wicket partnership of 71 with Lyndon James, who contributed 29, either side of tea to seemingly put the hosts in a position of strength given conditions.
While Slater had reached his fifth fifty of the season off 109 balls, Clarke’s milestone was reached off 123.
Then came the loss of four wickets for 16 inside eight overs as the visitors slipped from 192-5 in the 72nd over to 208-9 in the 78th.
Hill claimed three of those wickets. After Thompson had James caught by a running Duke following a top-edged pull, Hill had Liam Patterson-White caught behind, Brett Hutton caught at second slip and Clarke brilliantly caught by Thompson on the run at third-man following an attempted reverse scoop.
After a couple of lusty blows from Dillon Pennington, White wrapped things up by bowling him with the new ball.
Abbas then had openers Adam Lyth and Fin Bean caught behind for 2 apiece before close.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com. Dom Bess is captaining Yorkshire for the first time in a Championship match.
