Root, Brook on show as Yorkshire dominate Derbyshire

Yorkshire 276 for 3 (Lyth 97, Root 65*, Brook 44*, Masood 40) vs Derbyshire

England duo Joe Root and Harry Brook shared an entertaining and unbroken fourth-wicket partnership of 71 as Yorkshire dominated Derbyshire on day one of the Vitality County Championship clash at Headingley.

Root and Brook came together during the afternoon with the score at 205 for 3 after Yorkshire had been inserted at the start of this Division Two fixture, and they built on the early good work of in-form opener Adam Lyth, who made 97, to help their county close the day on 276 for 3 from 59 overs.

When bad light intervened just before 4pm – there was no further play as rain followed – Root was 65 not out and Brook 44.

Root was accumulative in 99 balls and Brook much more aggressive – savage even – in 37 against a wilting Derbyshire attack, frustrated by four dropped catches either side of lunch, including Lyth on 22 and 80.

All of the catches went down behind the wicket, three in the slips, and it could have been a completely different story had Derbyshire been able to expose Yorkshire’s superstar duo to a much newer ball.

The two counties came into this fixture level on 28 points after three games towards the foot of the table. Yorkshire had drawn two and lost one, the latter against Middlesex at Lord’s last week. Derbyshire had drawn all three.

Batting was not easy in overcast conditions with movement through the air and off the pitch

Despite creating chances, Derbyshire weren’t at their best with the ball, offering up too many boundary opportunities.

Their former overseas player Shan Masood, Yorkshire’s captain, hit 10 fours in a 25-ball 40, for example.

The first wicket to fall had a whiff of controversy about it. Fin Bean was trapped lbw by Anuj Dal for 18 – 46 for 1 at the start of the 15th over – the ball after he had picked up three to long-on at the end of the previous over.

Replays have shown that fielder Pat Brown slid into the rope trying to save the boundary, but the call of three runs stood. Had it been given four, Bean would not have been on strike to the ball he fell to.

In the grand scheme of the day, it mattered little as Bean’s opening partner, Lyth, led the way on Yorkshire’s dominant day.

Lyth was strong on both sides of the wicket in hitting 15 fours in 157 balls, narrowly missing out on a third century in four Championship matches this season when he edged Zak Chappell behind, leaving Yorkshire 205 for 3 in the afternoon.

Chappell was one of the Derbyshire bowlers taken to task by Masood during an action-packed morning. At one stage, he hit seven fours in 10 balls across two overs from Dal and Chappell, taking Yorkshire to 89 for 1 after 20 overs. Masood then edged left-arm seamer Luis Reece’s second ball to second slip – 92 for 2 in the 22nd.

From there, Lyth and Root shared 113 inside 27 overs for the third wicket.

Root’s innings was in complete contrast to Masood’s as he hit just two fours by the time he reached 40.

Later, Brook was even more aggressive than Masood. He drove with power and precision and lofted Reece for a straight six.

Not that Root was completely becalmed. Having reached an 86-ball fifty during the latter stages of the afternoon, he reverse swept Alex Thomson’s off-spin for four.

The weather came less than two overs later, at least giving Derbyshire some respite.

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