Yorkshire 361 (Hill 90, Wharton 63, Bess 50, Govin 4-67) and 273 (Bean 57, Lyth 55, Harris 5-73) beat Glamorgan 239 (Ingram 82, Coad 4-55, Fisher 4-55) and 209 (Tribe 58, Coad 4-51) by 186 runs
Yorkshire bowled Glamorgan out for 209 to win by 186 runs and put themselves on the verge of a return to Division One with one round of matches to go.
A draw and a couple of bonus points in their final game at home to Northamptonshire would clinch promotion, as they lead third-placed Middlesex by 15 points, 20 behind leaders Sussex, after taking the final three Glamorgan wickets in an hour.
They were relegated by a single point two years ago and were handicapped by a points deduction last season, so there is an air of determination about Yorkshire as they target a return to the top level.
“We played well, we have played well for a number of weeks now,” Yorkshire head coach, Ottis Gibson, said. “This week was important for us the way Sussex keep playing, keep winning, so to lose the toss and get put in meant the way we have played in the last three-and-a-half days we fully deserved our win.”
Glamorgan’s focus turns to the One-Day Cup final against Somerset at Trent Bridge on Sunday as they try to bring silverware back to Sophia Gardens this season despite their Championship form, which has seen them drop to second from bottom in the table.
“That was disappointing, really gutting,” Glamorgan coach, Grant Bradburn, said. “We take the loss on the chin up against very good teams in the last couple of weeks and we have not quite been sharp enough in all aspects. We don’t want to lose, of course, but we don’t mind losing if we are putting ourselves in a position to win.”
James Harris and Asa Tribe started the morning knowing they had a mountain to climb, even if the target was to survive until forecast bad weather later in the day.
Yorkshire opening bowlers Ben Coad and Matthew Fisher started the day with 13 wickets between them, so it was no surprise that they continued their partnership looking for the breakthrough.
They had to be patient for half an hour before Fisher was able to get one to cut away and bowl Tribe for a patient 58, a significant step forward for the 20-year-old opener as he tries to establish a place in the Glamorgan line-up.
Fisher was buoyed by his success and pinned Andy Gorvin lbw a few balls later to put his team close to the finish.
“I have been begging for Fish and Coad to be fit together for a period of time and to have those two taking the new ball then you know they will challenge the opposition and take wickets,” Gibson said.
Harris kept plugging away at the other end as he did his best to delay the inevitable, getting more aggressive in the final wicket partnership with Ben Morris which put on 41. Inevitably the fun came to an end as Harris was clean bowled by Jordan Thompson one short of a half-century.
Source: ESPN Crickinfo