Sayers so proud of Yorkshire (From The Northern Echo)

Sayers so proud of Yorkshire

2:54pm Monday 12th September 2011 in Yorkshire CCC Match Reports By Chris Parrott

YORKSHIRE’S stand-in captain Joe Sayers has praised the togetherness of his squad after seeing the county secure an unlikely lifeline to remain in division one of the LV=County Championship.

The Tykes battled to a thrilling six-wicket win over Somerset on Saturday, as relegation rivals Worcestershire lost to Sussex.

It means Yorkshire are yet to be mathematically relegated, although the Pears still need only one point from their final match at Durham, starting today, to seal the county’s fate.

Sayers admitted: “I think at times this year we have not had the spirit in the camp that we should have, I think that is fair.

“I think there are a whole number of reasons why that intangible spirit in a team of players comes and goes. It is a question that a lot of people in sport would love to know the answer to.

“We know that when we do play as a team we have the talent to challenge title contenders, as we have done over the past two weeks.

“This performance has really shown the togetherness we have in the dressing room.”

Sayers had every right to be proud of his team after a terrific all round display on the final day brought a deserved win.

It began with the ball, Ryan Sidebottom rolling back the years to produce the best spell of bowling by a Yorkshire player at Headingley for more than a decade.

He ended with career-best figures of 7-37 as Somerset were ousted for 132, with his match stats of 11-98 the finest since he took 11-43 against Kent in 2000.

Then, after Sidebottom’s heroics had set Yorkshire a victory target of only 203, a diligent batting display completed the emphatic win.

Joe Root (46) and Sayers (35) started the chase with an opening stand of 85, before nerves were sent jangling when both players were ousted along with Adam Lyth (3) in quick succession.

However, with the Tykes teetering on 103 for three, Anthony McGrath and player of the year Jonny Bairstow came to the crease to see the county home.

Bairstow was typically destructive to close on 53 not out, passing 1,000 runs in a Championship season for the first time, as McGrath fell for 44 to leave Gary Ballance the task of finally hitting the winning runs.

The result means Yorkshire finish on 138 points.

But either a single point for Worcestershire this week at Durham or a win for Hampshire at home to Warwickshire will still condemn the Tykes to the second division next season.

SCORECARD

Yorkshire v Somerset
At Headingley Carnegie.
Overnight: Yorkshire 195 (A Lyth 52; A C
Thomas 5-66). Somerset 265 (AW Barrow
69, J C Buttler 52; R J Sidebottom 4-61) and
124-6 (R J Sidebottom 4-34).

Somerset Second Innings
C A Meschede b Shahzad 33
A C Thomas c Lyth b Sidebottom 28
M Kartik c Bairstow b Sidebottom 1
A J Dibble not out 1
S P Kirby lbw b Sidebottom 0
Extras (lb2 w2 nb2) 6
Total (48.5 overs) 132
Fall: 1-18 2-21 3-26 4-26 5-46 6-78 7-130 8-
130 9-132
Bowling: Sidebottom 13.5-3-37-7. Shahzad
11-3-22-1. Ashraf 6-0-28-1. Pyrah 4-1-8-0.
McGrath 9-1-14-1. A U Rashid 5-0-21-0.

Yorkshire Second Innings
J E Root lbw b Thomas 46
J J Sayers c Trego b Kartik 35
A Lyth c Suppiah b Kartik 3
A McGrath c Buttler b Kirby 44
J M Bairstow not out 53
G S Ballance not out 4
Extras (b5 lb9 nb6 pens 0) 20
Total 4 wkts (59.3 overs) 205
Fall: 1-85 2-98 3-103 4-201
Did Not Bat: A U Rashid, A Shahzad, R M
Pyrah, R J Sidebottom, Moin Ashraf.
Bowling: Kirby 15.3-4-61-1. Thomas 16-3-
53-1. Trego 2-1-2-0. Dibble 8-1-31-0. Kartik
18-5-44-2.
Yorkshire (19pts) beat Somerset (5pts) by 6 wkts