[ad_1]
Birmingham bears 200 for 6 (Hain 83) beat Yorkshire 166 (Brookes 4-32) by 34 runs
In the second half of the inaugural ‘Blast Off’ double header (Lancashire beat Derbyshire in the first), the Bears were lifted to a commanding 200 for six by a score of 97 in 47 balls by Hain (83 not out, 46 balls) and Chris Benjamin (46, 28).
The Bears’ bowling offense then made light of the loss of Hassan Ali, who twisted an ankle during the warm-up. Chris Woakes hit twice in his first 11 balls as the Vikings fell to 34 for five. There was no going back from there and they finished on 166 all out, with Dawid Malan scoring top with 43 from 29 and Henry Brookes taking four for 32.
The hefty margin of victory continued the recent history of less-than-tight Blast encounters between these teams, with their previous two encounters producing a ten-wicket win for each.
The Vikings’ decision to bowl appeared correct for the first time after the home side ended the power play with a modest 41 for three. Paul Stirling, who briefly returned to Birmingham until Glenn Maxwell’s IPL commitments were over, played on against Matt Revis whose excellent first two overs cost just eight runs.
When Dom Bess Dan Mousley’s third ball tossed through an attempted slog sweep, the Bears were 51 for four—a wobbly platform that Hain and Benjamin first propped up and then built spectacularly with some ferocious stroke play.
Revis returned to end the second ball back of the partnership as Benjamin scooped to deep square leg, but Hain continued to hit seven fours and four sixes. His final two fours, drawn to Ben Mike’s raucous Hollies Stand side, came off the final two balls of the innings to take the total to 200.
Woakes then got busy as the Vikings lost wickets on the fifth ball of each of the first four overs. The World Cup winner trailed Adam Lyth forcing Shan Masood to play on. Henry Brookes ended Jonny Bairstow’s input on seven from six balls, courtesy of a nick to the wicketkeeper, and bowled Will Fraine to clutter the innings at 20 for four.
That became 34 for five as Revis made sweet contact with a cover drive on Dan Mousley but was brilliantly caught by Danny Briggs. Another fine catch, of Brookes diving forward on a deep square at Craig Miles, removed Mike and when Jordan sent Thompson down a skier later in the over, Malan was left with 133 to be found from ten overs and only the lower order for company .
After Malan fell to Jake Lintott with difficulty, the quest for 102 from the last six overs proved out of reach for the Vikings despite some careless swaying in a lost cause by Dom Bess (42 not out, 28) and Jafer Chohan (37, 20 ).
[ad_2]
Source link