Yorkshire v Hampshire: Day 3 report

Final score: 

Hampshire won by four wickets

Yorkshire 273 & 187

Hampshire 141 & 216/4 (76 ov, target: 320)

Day three report

Hampshire edged Yorkshire in an opening week Specsavers County Championship thriller as they chased down 320 to win at Headingley inside three days.

A number of useful contributions, led by Jimmy Adams' dogged 72, saw the visitors recover from conceding a first-innings deficit of 132 to win by four wickets in Division One.

Captain James Vince hit 44, Michael Carberry 41 and South African Rilee Rossouw an important 47 deep into the chase before Lewis McManus and Gareth Berg guided Hampshire home inside the first over of the day's extra half hour.

Two dropped catches early on day three allowed Hampshire to get their chase off to a healthy start, with both openers handed a life.

Adams, on 11, edged Tim Bresnan to Adam Lyth, who should have held on at second slip, before Carberry gave Peter Handscomb a much tougher chance in the gully off Ben Coad when on six.

Adams and Carberry went on to share 91 inside 32 overs for the first wicket in improving batting conditions.

Carberry pulled Steve Patterson for a sizeable six in front of square into the Western Terrace before falling to Coad, caught at long leg off a top-edged pull.

Adams immediately found another ally in Vince, with the pair sharing 69 for the second wicket in 21 overs either side of lunch.

Adams reached his half-century off 95 balls late in the morning, but he was the first of three afternoon wickets to fall to give the hosts a much-needed boost.

Off-spinner Azeem Rafiq trapped Adams lbw to leave Hampshire 160 for two and Vince followed nine overs later when he tamely chipped an ankle high return catch to Coad, who had taken six wickets in the first innings and now had eight for the match.

Sean Ervine soon followed, caught behind off Bresnan, leaving Hampshire 125 runs from victory with seven wickets left.

They dug in after tea, with Rossouw and Liam Dawson (37) scoring only 20 in the first 10 overs, before the new ball gave them impetus.

The pair hit four fours in a row off Bresnan and Coad at the end of the 81st over and the start of the 82nd, taking the score to 244 for four.

However, their 57-run stand was broken when Bresnan had the South African caught behind, before the former England bowler took a brilliant one-handed return catch to remove Dawson.

But McManus and Berg guided their side home with an unbroken 58 for the seventh wicket, with Berg securing victory with a straight six off Coad.

Day two report

Yorkshire set Hampshire 320 to win after a mixed second-innings batting effort at Headingley on day two of this finely poised Specsavers County Championship match.

Gary Ballance's side are the most likely winners, but they will no doubt be hugely frustrated at failing to put Hampshire to bed having claimed a lead of 132 in the first innings shortly after lunch.

After posting 273 on day one and then reducing the visitors to 58 for five, Yorkshire bowled them out for 141, with superb Ben Coad finishing with six wickets and Tim Bresnan four.

Yorkshire then fell to 187 all out in their second innings either side of tea as Kyle Abbott picked a brilliant seven for 41 from 14 overs after switching ends from the Football Stand to the Kirkstall Lane End early in the innings.

Gary Ballance and wicketkeeper Andrew Hodd at least scored important half-centuries for the hosts before Hampshire faced four overs before close, reaching 10 without loss.

Whichever side loses this match will look back on their failings with the bat.

But credit should go first to Yorkshire's 23-year-old Coad, who added his sixth wicket of the innings before lunch, and also the evergreen Bresnan.

They finished with six for 37 from 17 overs and four for 53 from 13.5 respectively, with Coad hardly bowling a bad ball.

When he picked up the first wicket of the day, Abbott caught at third slip off inside edge and pad, he was on for all 10 wickets and Hampshire were 71 for six in the 24th over of the innings.

But Bresnan ended such thoughts when he struck twice in the 29th over, Liam Dawson lbw and Gareth Berg caught at second slip. That left Hampshire at 75 for eight.

Ninth-wicket pair Lewis McManus, with 41, and Brad Wheal then shared 57 during the second half of the morning and into the afternoon to ensure Hampshire passed the follow-on target of 124.

But Bresnan bowled Wheal three balls after lunch and Fidel Edwards shortly afterwards to wrap up the innings.

Still, Hampshire, and Abbott in particular, were not about to give this game up.

The South African picked up his first three wickets in 17 balls, leaving the score at 59 for three.

He had Adam Lyth caught behind with a beauty that nipped off the pitch and Peter Handscomb caught at slip in the 11th over before trapping Alex Lees lbw in the 15th.

But Ballance and Jack Leaning set about steadying the ship.

By the time they brought up a 50 partnership in the early stages of the evening, Yorkshire were 109 for three and 241 in front.

Enter Abbott for another wicket-taking burst.

He trapped Leaning lbw for 15 in the 35th over to end a 56-run partnership with Ballance.

And when Bresnan miscued a pull to mid-wicket in the 37th to bag a pair, Yorkshire were 115 for five, leading by 247.

Hodd hit six fours in his first 24 runs before hammering Dawson's left-arm spin straight down the ground for six on the way to 54 not out off 53 balls.

But he saw Ballance depart, caught behind off Brad Wheal with 156 on the board in the 45th over, followed quickly by Azeem Rafiq, the victim of a superb one-handed slip catch by Sean Ervine at slip off Dawson in the 48th.

Abbott then trapped Steve Patterson lbw and bowled Josh Shaw with successive deliveries in the 55th, leaving the score at 186 for nine, before Berg bowled Coad in the next.

Day one report

Gary Ballance marked his first competitive game in permanent charge of Yorkshire with a defiant century before Ben Coad ripped through Hampshire's top order on the opening day of the Specsavers County Championship season at Headingley.

Ballance took over the mantle in the close season from Andrew Gale, who succeeded Jason Gillespie as head coach, and his 120 helped last year's Division One runners-up recover to 273 all out having been 152 for seven at one point.

Hampshire slumped to 58 for five in reply, with the inspired Coad taking every wicket on only his second championship appearance as he shared the plaudits with Ballance.

The 27-year-old was dropped by England after making four single-figure scores in two Tests against Bangladesh last October, but he moved on from his subcontinental woes in style in an innings which featured a 106-run stand with tail-ender Steven Patterson.

That steered the hosts out of trouble after Fidel Edwards, returning to the ground where he suffered a season-ending broken ankle in the corresponding fixture 12 months ago, clean bowled three Yorkshire batsmen, while Kyle Abbott, Gareth Berg and Liam Dawson chipped in with two wickets apiece.

Abbott was playing his first game since quitting international cricket, along with fellow South African Rilee Rossouw, to take up a Kolpak deal with Hampshire, who finished in the bottom two last year but were controversially spared relegation by Durham's financial issues.

They opted to forego the toss under leaden skies and with the floodlights on although the decision appeared questionable when Yorkshire openers Adam Lyth and Alex Lees made a flying start.

But Lees, who looked in decent touch in reaching 20, had his off-stump uprooted by Edwards, while Lyth shaped to leave one from Berg, only to edge behind and depart for 30.

Debutant Peter Handscomb and Ballance steadied proceedings with a 51-run partnership but Edwards' return to the attack after lunch reaped rewards as Yorkshire lurched from 110 for two to 132 for six by mid-afternoon.

The middle-order collapse started when the expensive but effective Edwards castled Handscomb and, after Jack Leaning was adjudged lbw to a nip backer from Berg, the West Indian cleaned up Tim Bresnan in the same over he rapped Ballance on the helmet with a tremendous bouncer.

Yorkshire were in some strife when Abbott and second slip Rossouw linked up to see off Andy Hodd, but the unassuming Ballance, despite the blow from Edwards, was untroubled in reaching his half-century from 102 balls by clubbing away a full toss for his seventh four.

He grew in confidence thereafter, punishing anything short and wide from Hampshire's bowlers, and with the sun poking through the clouds he found an ally in Patterson.

Ballance, who was unable to call on key batsmen Joe Root or Jonny Bairstow, both of whom along with leg-spinner Adil Rashid were made unavailable by England, picked up the pace and moved to three figures from 163 balls with a drive through the covers for his 14th four.

Patterson, while far from fluent, provided capable support and outlasted Ballance, bowled by Dawson, to finish unbeaten on 37 as Yorkshire quickly subsided after the departure of their captain.

But their total appears competitive at the very least after Coad struck in each of his first two overs, with Jimmy Adams trapped in front and James Vince clipping to midwicket.

Michael Carberry then poked to third slip off the 23-year-old, who, not satisfied with his haul, accounted for Sean Ervine and Rossouw to finish a frenetic day with sensational figures of five for 18.

Reaction

Gary Ballance: "It looks to be a very good day for us. We looked to be in a bit of trouble in that middle session but we fought back well and ended up with a decent score on the board.

"I felt really good, I've felt good for a while now and I'm just fortunate today's the day where I could kick on and get a hundred, which is brilliant for the confidence.

"I think Coady bowled outstanding in those last 17 or so overs. He's a young lad and improved massively in the winter, actually all the guys have.

"But he's just come in with a lot of confidence and that will give him even more confidence, getting his first five-for, it was fully deserved."