An excellent all-round contribution from Dom Bess helped Yorkshire make a winning start to their pre-season tour of Abu Dhabi, with a T20 victory over new coach Anthony McGrath’s former county Essex Eagles – by four wickets with 4.2 overs to spare.
Chasing 174 at the Tolerance Oval – part of the Sheikh Zayed International Stadium complex – Yorkshire raced to their target inside 16 overs.
Opener Will Luxton and wicketkeeper-batter Jordan Tattersall laid the platform with quick-fire 30s before Bess finished things off with an unbeaten 32 off 19 balls.
Yorkshire’s captain-for-the-day was helped out by fellow spinner Jafer Chohan, who contributed 10 to an unbroken seventh-wicket partnership of 42.
Earlier, impressive Chohan and Bess both struck twice apiece after the latter elected to bowl first, limiting Essex to 173-6.
The Headingley side then broke the back of their chase by reaching 90-3 after six overs of powerplay, with Luxton hitting four fours and a six in his 30 off 14 balls and James Wharton doing likewise in 24 off only nine deliveries.
Picture by YCCC. Dom Bess (r) and James Wharton warm up ahead of today’s win over Essex in Abu Dhabi.
But they fell to 132-6 in the 12th over to open the game up again, with South African overseas off-spinner Simon Harmer striking four times, including the scalps of Luxton, Wharton, Jordan Thompson and Matthew Revis (25). He finished with 3-24 from three overs.
Thankfully, Bess and Chohan combined – as they had done earlier with the ball – to steady the ship and seal victory. Bess hit five fours.
This was the final fixture of three on day one of the three-day Abu Dhabi Counties Super Cup, with Somerset and Nottinghamshire both beating the South Asian Cricket Academy.
In the first of those games, SACA seamer Arafat Bhuiyan claimed a hat-trick in defeat against the Taunton county. In the second, Notts chased down just 90 inside 10 overs.
Yorkshire and Essex took to the field just after 6.30pm local time, with the game delayed slightly to allow those who observe Ramadan to break their fast at sunset.
Both sides started well with the bat.
Picture by YCCC. Matthew Revis fielded and batted in Abu Dhabi today. His recovery from a back stress fracture suffered late last season is ongoing, and the plan is for him to bowl late in the two-day game against Somerset at the end of the tour.
Essex openers Michael Pepper and Charlie Allison shared 50 in 6.3 overs, with Pepper making 38. He was followed by 34 for Matt Critchley and a late unbeaten 39 off 19 balls with three sixes from Noah Thain.
But Yorkshire dragged things back impressively, and that was led by spin duo Chohan and Bess – fresh from winters abroad.
Chohan has been in the England set-up and at the Big Bash with Sydney Sixers, whilst captain-for-the-day Bess has also been in Sydney playing club cricket for Mosman.
Leg-spinner Chohan bowled Allison for 19 to make the initial breakthrough before adding the scalp of the big-hitting Paul Walter, finishing with figures of 2-27 from his four overs.
Off-spinner Bess removed England fringe man Jordan Cox and Critchley in his 2-31 from three.
Seamers Alex Wade and Jack White both made their maiden first-team appearances for the White Rose county, but the others wickets went to Thompson, who impressed with 1-26 from his four overs, and a run out.
Picture by YCCC. New head coach Anthony McGrath tasted victory against his former county Essex. Here he is helping Jonny Tattersall warm up with the bat today.
After the early departure of Fin Bean for 11, Luxton and Wharton advanced the chase at some pace as they shared 44 in three overs from 18-1 in the second.
After they both fell to Harmer, the day’s best bowler, Tattersall maintained the momentum with six fours in his 30 off 16 balls.
He shared 39 for the fourth wicket with Revis – playing as a batter as he recovers from a back stress fracture – as Yorkshire progressed from 71-3 in the fifth over.
The quick departures of Tattersall, to Critchley’s leg-spin, and Thompson and Revis to Harmer raised Essex’s hopes as they reduced Yorkshire to 132-6 in the 12th.
But Bess and Chohan remained calm to seal a win which maintains Yorkshire’s hopes of reaching Sunday evening’s final.
They face defending champions Birmingham Bears at 10.30am tomorrow (6.30am UK).
Picture by YCCC. Jafer Chohan (centre) had an excellent evening out at the Tolerance Oval.
DOM BESS SAID:
“It was good. Obviously it’s the first performance of the year, and we’re going to change the teams around and the roles. But I think it was a really good start.
“I was really impressed with Wadey (0-25 from three overs). It was his first game amongst the first-team group.
“Then, the way Wharts, Lux and Beany started the second innings was pretty exciting.
“The captaincy was good fun. I really enjoyed it. These sorts of games, you get a bit more opportunity with different experiences.
“It was wet out there. The dew was pretty heavy. It was like playing in a bath tub. But these are experiences you might get back in England with the rain – how do you bowl with a wet ball and how do you put pressure on when you’re batting?
“It’s quite cliched, but every experience we get, we can take into the summer.
“It could be quite different in terms of conditions tomorrow, but Mags, Sads and Mick have outlined the way we want to go in terms of powerplays and how we want to attack our cricket, certainly white ball cricket.
“The message has already been set. Now it’s about putting it into practice.”
