Gurman Randhawa steps up for his first five-for
Left-hand spinner Gurman Randhawa, right, notched up his first Yorkshire Second Eleven five-for as Scotland Lions managed to save their rain-hit three-day "friendly" match at Weetwood.
Yorkshire built up 332-4 in their first - and only - innings - on Day 1, and with Day 2 washed out it was inevitable that captain Craig White would declare, hoping to bowl Scotland Lions out for 182 to enforce the follow-on...and bowl them out again.
It was a tall order. Too tall. Openers Dougie Lockhart and Qasim Sheikh built the base of the innings and, try as they might, the bowlers could not separate them until the 30th over - when Sheikh was trapped leg-before by Randhawa, the fifth man tried, with 90 runs on the board.
Lunch revitalised Yorkshire: opening bowlers James Lee and Moin Ashraf took two quick wickets - and it looked as though the visitors might yet be out before they reached the follow-on total...but a captain’s innings from Richard Berrington in the company of boundary-hitting Rana Hussain saw it to 180.
Randhawa stepped up for his second spell - and hit the treble, dismissing Berrington, caught by Adam Lyth, and the Chalmers...Ewan caught by wicket-keeper Simon Guy and Stuart, caught by Lee Hodgson...in the space of two overs. Joe Root caught and bowled Hussain in his first over, but the total had pased the danger mark, and forcing a victory was nigh impossible. The last three wickets were mopped up after tea - Hodgson taking the final two in three balls - but the clock showed 4.40pm.
There was no point in going back on, so the sides shook hands, and the match was a draw.
Highlight for Yorkshire and the numerous spectators was the bowling of Radhawa. He achieved a five-for in his second Second Eleven game, and surely there will be much more to come from the young Academician.
Day 1: Chris Taylor reasserted his presence on the Yorkshire scene yesterday when he batted most of the day at Weetwood to compile 168 for Yorkshire Second Eleven against Scotland Lions.
Chris, whose runs came off 318 balls with 25 fours, led the way as Yorkshire finished on 332-6 in the 106 overs bowled. With today washed out and only tomorrow to go it now has to be a game of declarations and forfeits. Yorkshire Seconds have endured nine blank days this season.
The visitors are not all Scots - boasting a South African and a Zimbabwean among their ranks: and don't forget their name change to Scotland Lions, mirroring the appellation given to the second England team.
The Scots won the toss and invited Yorkshire to bat on a pitch that had been kept reasonably dry through the storms of the previous day, although there was a damp patch which caused the ball to rear off a length on occasion.
Gary Ballance and Taylor weathered the opening attack, and took the partnership past the century mark. Ballance was garnering his runs at a higher rate than his partner - but shortly after lunch he was caught off the young Willie Rowan, age-limited to seven-over spells.
Taylor was the backbone of the innings: bruised and battered by the occasional lifter, he accumulated a 50...another 50...and yet another as he batted for 373 minutes to double his seasonal aggregate in two-innings matches.
He was the fourth victim of the Scottish bowling, which restricted Yorkshire to little more than three runs an over throughout the day. Adam Lyth, Joe Root and Richard Pyrah all reached double figures.
Five penalty runs for the ball hitting the fielder’s helmet behind the wicket-keeper came into the category of all contributions gratefully received.
Day 2: No play, rain.
Yorkshire 2nd XI 1st Innings: GS Ballance, c Watson b Rowan 79 (12 fours), CR Taylor b Burnett 168 (25 fours), A Lyth c Berrington b Watson 36 (5 fours), JE Root c Berrington b Watson 15, RM Pyrah not out 17 (2 fours), CG Roebuck not out 5. Extras (pen 5, b 1, lb 1, w 3, nb 2) 12
Total (4 wkts dec, 106 overs) 332
FoW: 1-125 (Ballance), 2-218 (Lyth), 3-267 (Root), 4-325 (Taylor)
Bowling: Parker 3-1-10-0, Rowan 23-6-70-1, Legget 21-5-71-0, Burnett 11-2-51-1, Lyons 25-8-59-0, Berrington 9-2-26-0, Watson 14-4-38-2
Scotland Lions 1st Innings: DR Lockhart (wicket-keeper) b Ashraf 42 (4 fours), MQ Sheikh lbw b Randhawa 54 (7 fours), RR Watson b Lee 8 (1 four), RD Berrington (captain) c Lyth b Randhawa 28 (3 fours and 1 six), RO Hussain c & b Root 47 (10 fours), EF Chalmers c Guy b Randhawa 0, SJ Chalmers c Hodgson b Randhawa 0, RT Lyons c Ashraf b Hodgson 34 (5 fours), CG Burnett c Hodgson b Randhawa 20 (3 fours), WJ Rowan c Root b Hodgson 11 (1 four), CWS Leggett not out 0. Extras (b 1, lb 2) 3
Total (76.5 overs) 247
FoW: 1-90 (Sheikh), 2-102 (Watson), 3-106 (Lockhart), 4-180 (Berrington), 5-180 EF Chalmers, 6-180 (SJ Chalmers), 7-186 (Hussain), 8-225 (Burnett), 9-247 (Lyons), 10-247 (Rowan)
Bowling: Lee 15-4-43-1, Ashraf 12-4-22-1, Pyrah 9-0-38-0, Hodgson 14.5-5-62-2, Randhawa 19-5-53-5, Ballance 1-0-10-0, Root 6-2-16-1
Result: Match drawn
Umpires: K Coburn and A Bullock. Scorers: M Snook and AC Baxter