Northamptonshire 26 for 2 (Thompson 2-13) trail Yorkshire 296 (Brook 84, Malan 64, Thompson 51, Berg 5-58) by 270 runs
The Leeds-born allrounder struck in successive balls to remove Northamptonshire skipper Ricardo Vasconcelos and night-watchman Simon Kerrigan as the hosts stumbled to 26 for 2 in reply to Yorkshire’s 296 all out.
Thompson’s double-strike followed his quick-fire 51 which guided Yorkshire from the choppy waters of 206 for 7 to the brink of a third batting point.
Berg soon gave Tykes skipper Steven Patterson reason to regret his decision to bat with three wickets in a typically probing opening spell.
The elder statesman of the new-ball art was indebted to debutant Will Young for the wicket of Adam Lyth, the New Zealander hurling his 6ft 2″ frame to his right at second slip to clasp the edge inches above the turf. Berg then induced a thin nick through to keeper Lewis McManus to send George Hill packing for a duck.
It should have been even better two balls later when Malan edged another ball which moved away off the seam, only for Vasconcelos to shell the most routine of slip catches.
Undeterred, Berg struck again in his sixth over when Dimuth Karunaratne gave McManus more catching practice, but the dropping of Malan was to haunt the hosts for some time.
Karunaratne’s demise brought Brook to the crease fresh from his unbeaten half-century in last week’s win over Gloucestershire. The 23-year-old right-hander, who made his T20 international debut on the West Indies tour this winter, also has history with Wantage Road, having made a century in Yorkshire’s win in the same fixture a year ago and he was quickly into stride, a savage pull in front of square off Aussie debutant Matt Kelly an early highlight.
Meanwhile, Malan, a scapegoat for England’s post-Ashes red-ball reset, was making the most of his early reprieve as Luke Proctor made the mistake of feeding his trademark cover drive. The duo gorged on Kerrigan too in the run-up to lunch, Brook hammering the spinner over mid-wicket for six. The 100-partnership came soon after the resumption, but Berg returned to pin Malan lbw.
Nevertheless, with Brook continuing serenely on, the visitors were in charge at 203 for 4 before the game took another turn. Ben Sanderson, who had not been at his best with the new ball, bowled Harry Duke before grabbing the prize wicket of Brook, both off the inside-edge and with Rob Keogh castling Dom Bess in the intervening over, Yorkshire suddenly found themselves stymied.
Thompson, though, fought back aggressively, clattering a six into the advertising hoardings in a 69-ball 50, his fourth in first-class cricket, before Kelly removed him and Patterson in successive balls.
Fittingly, it was Berg who then bowled Harris Rauf to complete his five-for, leaving Yorkshire four runs shy of a third batting point.
Vasconcelos despatched the first ball of the host’s reply to the boundary, but Northamptonshire were largely circumspect, at one stage absorbing 36 balls without scoring.
Their bid to reach the close unscathed was undone by Thompson, who trapped Vasconcelos in front before having Kerrigan taken at slip for a first-ball duck.
Source: ESPN Crickinfo