Young Yorkshire pair tear into Worcestershire to transform malfunctioning innings
Jordan Thompson turned from bowler to batterer as Yorkshire overwhelmed Worcestershire
Yorkshire 191 for 5 (Brook 83*, Thompson 66*, Pennington 4-24) beat Worcestershire 179 for 5 (Wessels 77, Cox 61*) by 12 runs
Their stand of 141 in 56 balls was the highest sixth-wicket partnership in the history of the Blast and the second highest-ever in the world for that wicket, dwarfed only by the 161 shared by Andre Russell and Kennar Lewis for Tallawahs against T&T Riders in Port of Spain three years ago.
But it was not just about an extraordinary statistic, it was about the message it conveyed. That Thompson and Brook are players brimming with promise is known throughout Yorkshire, to some extent beyond. But this was the night they came of age and, as they did, they questioned some enfeebled batting that had gone before.
“Everything seemed in slow motion,” said Thompson, thereby taking the opposite view to those of us who just got to watch it and thought everything felt speeded up.
Worcestershire had figures in some insipid Powerplays on successive nights. On Tuesday, they scraped 20 for 4 against Notts, made 86 for 8 and lost in 6.2 overs. This time they restricted Yorkshire to 18 for 4, but still took another beating.
Yorkshire were not just without their England trio of Jonny Bairstow, Dawid Malan and David Wiley, they lacked Tom Kohler-Cadmore, who had fractured a finger keeping wicket, and Will Fraine, who had strained his side while range-hitting in practice 24 hours before the game. In the way Yorkshire started their innings, it felt as if there was an underlying sense of pessimism.
From there, Brook smashed 83 not out off 54 balls and Thompson 66 from 28, career-best scores for players who only had one T20 half-century each at start of play. They rallied Yorkshire to 191 for 5, and when Worcestershire fell 12 runs short, a fifth victory in seven took them to the top of North Group. Unless other top-order batters capture their mood, they may need their slender points cushion ahead of fifth place.
Pennington removed Adam Lyth, Jonny Tattersall and Gary Ballance in his first over – a triple-wicket maiden in the third of the match – and then trapped Joe Root lbw for 1 in his next. Root fell to a decent inswinger, but the rest lacked conviction: Lyth (his rampant start to the season a distant memory) slicing to third man; Tattersall, playing his first game since being loaned out to Gloucestershire, dragging a pull to short midwicket when a cut shot would have been a better option; and Ballance, often overlooked in T20, pulling his third ball to deep square leg.
It was when he was joined by Thompson, however, that belief flooded into Yorkshire’s batting. Brook’s ability can need enticing at times, but Thompson’s capability flares on the surface for all to see. His head might have lifted at times, and maybe the ball did not always fly exactly where he planned, but his backswing brooked no argument.
They peppered the ball to all parts, a sense of desperation insisting they just played by instinct. Thompson took 17 from five balls from Pennington, 21 coming from his last over. Every Worcestershire bowler was broken in turn and 28 came from the last from Charlie Morris, the innings ending when Ish Sodhi, who was surprisingly limited to two overs, dived over one at extra cover.
Lockie Ferguson leaked 20 from the penultimate over, needing Fisher to defend 23 from the last, and, although Cox finished 61 not out, he did so comfortably enough. “I think we had a pretty good game,” said Pennington, loyally, understandably not wanting his own wonderful night to be ruined.
David Hopps writes on county cricket for ESPNcricinfo @davidkhopps
Source: ESPN Crickinfo