Yorkshire v Hampshire (LV County Championship) : Day Three

ANOTHER terrific day in the field at Headingley put Yorkshire in prime position to get their County Championship season off and running with a win, as Hampshire were forced to follow- on, and are now in danger of suffering an innings defeat.

After he mercilessly put the visitors to the sword on day two, Matthew Hoggard was in no mood to give Hampshire's batsmen any respite, steaming in to take the wicket of Nic Pothas with the very first ball of the day, the wicket-keeper giving a thick edge to Jacques Rudolph at firstslip.

After Rudolph's safe hands then did for Greg Lamb off the bowling of Deon Kruis, Ajmal Shahzad got in on the act to dismiss Dimi Mascharenas, who took any hope of avoiding the follow-on with him as he left the middle, Andrew Gale taking his second catch of the game to go with his superb 138 on day one.

Yorkshire's fielding was exceptional all day and Joe Sayers became the next to hold onto an edge with a smart low take to get rid of Chris Tremlett and after a stubborn tenth wicket stand that went on for half an hour, Michael Vaughan wrapped up the innings by taking an easy catch off Shane Bond at backward point, the visitors skittled for 159.

Stand-in skipper Anthony Mc- Grath was delighted with the way his side performed in the field.

"We've worked really hard on that in pre-season out in Abu- Dhabi," said McGrath.

"We've got a few younger lads coming in and we're looking sharp in the field. With the seam bowers that we've got catches are really important and the work we've put in is really paying off."

With patchy rain stalling the home side's progress, forcing Hampshire to follow on wasn't a difficult decision. They toiled once more as England hopeful Michael Carberry headed back to the pavilion early on for the second time in two days, having made just 14 and 13 respectively.

Jimmy Adams also struggled and was trapped in front by Bresnan before Joe Sayers temporarily blotted the home side's awesome fielding record to let John Crawley off the hook, although Bresnan made sure the veteran didn't stay at the crease much longer as he took a good catch at second slip off the bowling of a jubilant McGrath.

He then went on to dismiss Michael Lumb, the former Yorkshire player's rather miserable return to Headingley compounded with another low score.

At stumps some resurgence from Pothas with an unbeaten 28 and a well made 50 from opener Michael Brown ensured Hampshire will begin the final day with at least some hope of avoiding an innings defeat, they ended the day on 136 for four, still 103 runs shy of forcing Yorkshire to bat again

SCORECARD
Yorkshire v Hampshire
At Headingley Carnegie.
Overnight: Yorkshire 398 (A W Gale 138, J A
Rudolph 59). Hampshire115-5 (M J Hoggard 5-
51).
Hampshire First Innings
N Pothas c Rudolph b Hoggard 36
A D Mascarenhas c Gale b Shahzad 27
G A Lamb c Rudolph b Kruis 2
C T Tremlett c Sayers b Bresnan 12
J A Tomlinson not out 11
S E Bond c Vaughan b A U Rashid 1
Extras (b1 lb5 nb8 pens 0) 14
Total (70.3 overs) 159
Fall: 1-7 2-21 3-32 4-53 5-82 6-115 7-122 8-
145 9-145
Bowling: Hoggard 19-3-57-6. Kruis 18-7-36-1.
Shahzad 13-6-21-1. Bresnan 14-5-29-1. A U
Rashid 6.3-3-10-1.
Hampshire Second Innings Close
M A Carberry c Sayers b Bresnan 14
M J Brown not out 58
J H Adams lbw b Bresnan 4
J P Crawley c Bresnan b McGrath 15
M J Lumb c A U Rashid b McGrath 7
N Pothas not out 28
Extras (b2 lb3 w3 nb2 pens 0) 10
Total 4 wkts (46 overs) 136
Fall: 1-34 2-42 3-76 4-84
To Bat: A D Mascarenhas, G A Lamb, C T Tremlett,
S E Bond, J A Tomlinson.
Bonus Pts: Yorkshire 7 Hampshire 3
Bowling: Hoggard 10-2-25-0. Kruis 10-1-23-0.
Bresnan 7-1-20-2. Shahzad 6-0-29-0. McGrath
9-1-22-2. A U Rashid 4-0-12-0.

9:51am Saturday 26th April 2008

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