Record-breaking Root in rampant form

JOE ROOT continued this prolific start to the season with a record-breaking performance alongside Jonny Bairstow as they both prepare to leave Yorkshire for England commitments.

The Sheffield-born batsman, who only made his England Test debut earlier this winter, took his tally of championship runs for the season to 467 in only three innings to establish him as the first division’s leading run-scorer with a brilliant 236 that caused records to tumble.

His innings, which spanned three and a half hours at the crease, overshadowed an equally brilliant 186 from Bairstow that helped Yorkshire score 433 runs in a day, exploiting batsman-friendly conditions and the loss of Derbyshire seamer Tony Palladino from their attack with a side strain to secure a 122-runs lead.

Their quick-scoring, which was also aided by Gary Ballance’s unbeaten 50 off 53 balls, ensured a dramatic turnaround in fortunes on the third day from a 311-run deficit at the start to give Yorkshire the chance of an amazing victory on the final day by reaching 597 for five.

In spearheading that turnaround, records were shattered for most of the day.

Root’s innings was his career best, it took him past 2,000 championship runs in only 52 innings – the same number Geoff Boycott and Herbert Sutcliffe took to reach the milestone – and was the highest individual innings scored by a Yorkshire batsman at Headingley since Darren Lehmann’s 339 against Durham in 2006.

Their 231-run fourth wicket partnership, spanning 51 overs, was also Yorkshire’s highest fourth wicket stand against Derbyshire, beating the 211 recorded by Vic Wilson and Willie Watson at Harrogate in 1961, while Bairstow also passed 4,000 first class runs after reaching 12.

“It’s nice to get some runs early doors, especially in April when it’s not always that easy but it’s a very good pitch this one and hopefully we’re in a good enough position to kick on tomorrow and try and bowl them out,” said Root. “You go out there and try and be as greedy as you can and get through April with as many as you can under your belt.”

Yorkshire’s day did not begin well, losing two wickets before lunch, with Phil Jacques being run out after a mix-up with Root over a quick single and was quickly followed by captain Andrew Gale after he picked out mid-off attempting to drive at spinner David Wainwright.

From then on Yorkshire’ dominance was such that it resembled an extended Twenty20 game, with Derbyshire finally getting some relief when Root was bowled around his legs by spinner Dan Redfern having hit 24 fours.

That was the signal for Bairstow and Ballance to accelerate, adding 212 in 30 overs in the final session. Bairstow holed out to the square leg boundary with seven balls remaining after hitting 21 fours and four sixes in his innings, but by then Derbyshire looked shell-shocked.

SCORECARD

Yorkshire v Derbyshire
At Headingley Carnegie.
Overnight: Derbyshire 475 (C F Hughes 270
no, W L Madsen 93). Yorkshire164-1 (J E Root
75 no, A Lyth 69).

Yorkshire First Innings Close
J E Root b Redfern ..............................236
P A Jaques run out .............................39
A W Gale c Groenewald b Wainwright .. 5
J M Bairstow c Groenewald b Durston .186
G S Ballance not out ..........................50
A U Rashid not out ............................. 0
Extras (b4 lb6 w2 pens 0)............12
Total 5 wkts (141 overs)...............597
Fall: 1-126 2-218 3-246 4-477 5-594
To Bat: T T Bresnan, L E Plunkett, J A Brooks,
S A Patterson.
Bowling: Groenewald 29-3-107-1. Palladino 10-1-34-
0. Wainwright 48-6-169-1. Durston 25-3-127-
1. Clare 22-1-102-0. Redfern 7-0-48-1.