Yorkshire wrapped up a fabulous innings and 33-run victory, inside two days, against Somerset at Scarborough to elevate themselves into LV= Insurance County Championship title contention.
Harry Brook completed a fourth career Championship century, his 118 helping to secure a first-innings lead of 174 at tea.
Matthew Fisher, with 5-41 in the first innings, then ran through Somerset’s top order for a second time by taking four more wickets as they slumped to 18-5.
He finished with 4-23 and career best match figures of 9-64 as Somerset were bowled out for 141 with one ball left in the day following the extra half hour.
The 22-point haul means Yorkshire jump from bottom of the in-play Division One table to the top on 38.5 points with two rounds remaining.
Brook celebrated receiving his first-team cap at the start of this match in grand style, this his second hundred of the Championship summer.
Brook went from 79 not out overnight to 118 off 165 balls just after lunch on day two as the White Rose manoeuvred themselves into a position of great strength, replying to Somerset’s meagre 134 with 308 all out at tea.
That total also included Jordan Thompson’s 57 off 118 balls down the order as he helped swell the lead through the middle of a day which ended with a flurry of wickets and Somerset consigned to a second successive innings defeat after losing to Nottinghamshire at Taunton last week.
Twenty-two-year-old Brook’s hundred was achieved on a typically bouncy North Marine Road surface.
His only six, added to 18 fours, came during the latter stages of the opening day, with him moving to a 122-ball hundred before lunch following on from his 113 in the win against Northamptonshire at Wantage Road in early July.
During that game, coach Andrew Gale admitted he was surprised that Brook hadn’t been called into England’s re-jigged one-day international squad to face Pakistan when they had Covid issues.
Now, it would be a surprise if Brook isn’t involved in England’s winter plans in some shape or form, even if it is just a Lions call, having impressed against white ball and red in 2021.
In Championship and Blast cricket, he has scored 1,205 runs in 25 appearances.
He drove back-to-back boundaries off Tom Abell’s seam to reach his fourth career Championship hundred.
Two of those have come against Somerset, with the other being at Emerald Headingley in July 2019. That came on the day when England won the one-day World Cup against New Zealand at Lord’s, July 14.
A lot has changed in the world since that day, including Brook being a more rounded, composed player.
Brook and Harry Duke, celebrating his 20th birthday today, started the day by completing a sixth-wicket 57-run stand before Duke was bowled by a beauty from Josh Davey, nipping away off the seam and clipping off bail as the score fell to 179-6.
It was actually Thompson who made the day’s most significant contribution with the bat.
He shared 51 either side of lunch with Brook for the seventh wicket and, following the latter’s departure, 55 for the eighth with David Willey.
Thompson’s first Championship fifty of the season included two leg-side sixes off the left-arm swing of Tom Lammonby with the new ball.
By the time he reached his milestone off 94 balls, Yorkshire were 271-7 in the 90th over – a lead of 137.
Brook had fallen brilliantly caught at second slip by a diving Abell off Ben Green’s seam in the 80th over, immediately before the new ball (230-7).
Overseas South African quick Marchant de Lange removed both Thompson and Willey, caught cutting at backward point and caught and bowled respectively, as the score fell to 296-9 in the 100th over of the innings before Fisher edged a boundary to seal a third batting point.
Steve Patterson clubbed de Lange (4-55) to mid-on to end the innings and signal tea, leaving Somerset with 44 overs of batting to do before close.
It became quickly evident that they were going to struggle to survive it.
Willey made the initial breakthrough by getting Lammonby caught at third slip by Brook in the second over 2-1.
Then, Fisher reeled the visitors in, taking the next four, including two in two balls.
He had Pakistan batsman Azhar Ali caught at second slip by Adam Lyth and then James Hildreth lbw as the score fell to 17-3 at the start of the ninth over.
With the last ball of that over he trapped George Bartlett lbw with a fast and full before before bowling Abell, who left alone, at the start of his next – 18-5 in the 11th.
Thompson and George Hill then added a wicket apiece as Somerset fell to 69-7 after 29 overs.
Thompson had Tom Banton caught behind in the 18th and Hill had Steve Davies (25) caught at first slip by Tom Kohler-Cadmore playing to leg.
Green and Jack Leach then resisted, sharing 42 to take the score to 111, before Dom Bess had Leach caught at slip by Lyth in the day’s penultimate over to bring about the extra half hour with two wickets still needed. That was a touch of revenge for Leach getting Bess out in the Yorkshire innings.
One of those wickets was achieved when Thompson uprooted Green’s off stump for 32 (115-9).
De Lange hit a couple of sixes in the final half hour before Thompson bowled the swinging South African in the 52nd and final over of the day to wrap up the win, him finishing with 3-32.
