Jonny Tattersall’s 90* keeps Yorkshire strong after Leicestershire collapse

Yorkshire 263 for 8 (Tattersall 90*, Scriven 4-69) lead Leicestershire 98 (Cox 51*, Coad 5-15) by 165 runs

Skipper Jonny Tattersall‘s fine, unbeaten 90 enabled promotion-chasing Yorkshire to close on 263 for 8 for a lead of 165 after 18 wickets fell on day one of their Vitality County Championship match against Leicestershire.

It came after Leicestershire’s decision to prepare a pitch as green as the outfield had threatened to backfire on them historically as they were reduced to 15 for 7 inside the first hour after Yorkshire won the toss.

They recovered somewhat thanks to an unbeaten 51 by Ben Cox, but in the last of this Championship season’s four rounds using the Kookaburra ball were bowled out for 98 nonetheless. Pace bowler Ben Coad took 5 for 15 and his Surrey-bound strike partner Matthew Fisher returned from injury with 3 for 38 in his first appearance since May.

Yorkshire stumbled to 30 for 3 at the start of their reply. Yet as batting became easier, Tattersall’s assured performance, with support from James Wharton (41), Dom Bess (33) and Fisher (28 not out), gave them the upper hand – albeit with only one batting bonus point in 71 overs after Tom Scriven took 4 for 69.

Relegated in 2022 in the wake of the Azeem Rafiq affair, Yorkshire began the day a point behind second-placed Middlesex in the Division Two table, with three matches remaining.

Leicestershire, outsiders but still in the hunt for promotion, had not bargained on being all out for less than 100 before lunch. The absence of top scorer Peter Handscomb, who has returned home for the Australian domestic season, was hardly an excuse.

Yet it could have been much worse. As Coad and Fisher laid waste to their top and middle order, it seemed quite possible that Leicestershire would be shot out for the lowest total in their history, not even matching the 25 for which Kent dismissed their forebears at Aylestone Road in 1912.

After Rishi Patel edged Coad to third slip with no runs on the board, the next three wickets fell with the total on three. Lewis Hill nicked Fisher to second slip, Coad brought one back to bowl Ian Holland leg stump and then had Rehan Ahmed caught at second slip.

Two more wickets fell on 11. Louis Kimber swung and missed to be leg before to Coad as the fourth duck in the top six, then Fisher nipped one back to trap Ajinkya Rahane. Liam Trevaskis perished in the same over, also leg before, making it 15 for 7.

It took Cox and Tom Scriven to disrupt the pattern by going on the attack. The first of Scriven’s three boundaries ensured that the 1912 record would stand before Cox damaged Coad’s figures with a top-edge for six. The pair added 37 in 26 balls before Scriven was caught behind swinging as Coad completed his five-wicket haul – his second with the Kookaburra after taking 5 for 33 against Worcestershire last season.

Cox reached 51 from 31 balls by hammering Fisher for his second six. Jordan Thompson had Scott Currie leg before but the last wicket added another 39 before Chris Wright was bowled by George Hill.

Leicestershire should have had a wicket first ball as Yorkshire’s first innings began immediately after lunch, Wright dropping a return catch offered by Lyth. The visitors found themselves 30 for 3 in the 18th over nonetheless. Finlay Bean was caught at gully, Lyth caught behind off a wafer-thin edge and Will Luxton, driving, fell to a brilliant one-handed grab by Currie at third slip.

Jonny Bairstow followed his attacking instincts but after four boundaries he departed to a catch at first slip, at 56 for 4, which would have become 63 for 5 had first-slip Patel not dropped Wharton on 14 off Scriven.

The error cost 46 runs, Wharton raising his boundary count to eight before his eyes lit up when presented with a long-hop by Rehan Ahmed and was caught at long-on.

From 109 for five, Tattersall played with calm assurance to head off the threat of another crash of wickets. George Hill was bowled by Wright for 12 but Dom Bess played some attractive strokes as he and Tattersall added 42.

Scriven got one through Bess’s defences for his third success and had Thompson caught off a top-edged pull. Tattersall and Fisher added 53 before the close.