Close Day Three: Derbyshire v Yorkshire, Vitality CC – Yorkshire County Cricket Club

Scorecard 

Yorkshire completed back-to-back innings victories in the Vitality County Championship for the first time since June 2015 as Derbyshire were beaten inside three days at Chesterfield – by an innings and 204 runs.

An outstanding display with ball and bat ensured that Yorkshire’s promotion push was strengthened after last week’s win over Gloucestershire at Scarborough.

Shan Masood’s side claimed the maximum 24 points available having bowled Derbyshire out for 76 in the first innings, replied with 451-9 declared and then bowled the hosts out again for 171 inside 43 overs midway through today’s afternoon session. 

Yorkshire’s stars were Sri Lankan fast bowler Vishwa Fernando, who claimed nine wickets in the match, and James Wharton and Jonny Tattersall with 188 and 107 respectively.

Left-arm quick Fernando’s last match saw him take 5-30 from 10 overs in the first innings and 4-58 from 9.5 in the second. 

Other valuable contributions came from Jordan Thompson, who struck four times in the first innings to help set the game up, and Ben Coad bettering that with a superb 6-30 from 15 in the second innings. They are the second best figures of his first-class career. 

Yorkshire will have to wait for the current round of matches to finish tomorrow to know exactly where they sit in the Division Two table having won two, lost two and drawn five.

But, safe to say, they will be right on the coat-tails of the top two – Sussex and Middlesex – with five games remaining in August and September. They play both at home in the run-in.

When the cliche of the ‘perfect performance’ is mentioned by players, coaches and pundits, you rarely get close to it. This last three days, however, Yorkshire haven’t been far off.

Having been surprisingly asked to bowl first on a pitch which offered the seamers something all the way through, they dominated struggling Derbyshire from the off.

Ben Coad struck in the first over of the match, and Yorkshire never looked back.

Today started with the visitors on 416-6 in their first innings and Tattersall on 93, just short of a third first-class century. 

Picture by John Heald. Vishwa Fernando was outstanding with eight wickets on his Yorkshire farewell.

And they declared on 451-9 having achieved the twin goals of getting a fifth batting bonus point for reaching 450 and getting their wicketkeeper-batter to his first hundred since 2022.

Yorkshire didn’t find adding the extra 34 runs this morning easy at all. 

It took them 8.4 overs for the loss of three wickets and needed Fernando to edge Daryn Dupavillon to third for four to get beyond 450 before declaring immediately deep into the 102nd over.

Reece trapped Thompson lbw for 20 before bowling Coad.

And after Tattersall had reached his hundred off 163 balls, he miscued a pull at South African quick Dupavillon to mid-wicket, leaving Yorkshire 447-9.

Thankfully, Fernando edged his boundary. And thankfully, the wickets continued to tumble when Derbyshire embarked upon their second innings.

Picture by John Heald. Dan Moriarty congratulates Vishwa Fernando after hitting the boundary this morning which secured a fifth batting point.

Coad struck with the very first ball as Mitch Wagstaff edged behind to a tumbling Tattersall – a smart catch going in front of first slip.

By the time lunch came, Derbyshire were in all sorts of trouble at 57-4 from 19 overs as Coad and Fernando traded wickets.

Fernando trapped Reece lbw stuck on the crease before Coad removed Brooke Guest the same way, the wicketkeeper-batter playing down the wrong line.

And when Fernando had Wayne Madsen lbw, also stuck on the crease, for 23, it was 43-4 in the 15th over.

The last time Yorkshire claimed back-to-back innings victories in the Championship was during the title-winning campaign of 2015 when, in June of that year, they beat Nottinghamshire at Headingley and then Durham at the Riverside.

Here at Chesterfield, Yorkshire were held up by a consolatory half-century from Derbyshire captain Lloyd after lunch. 

Picture by John Heald. Ben Coad celebrates one of his six wickets.

He and fellow Welshman Aneurin Donald took the score from 43-4 late in the morning to 97-4 early in the afternoon – their county’s first half-century partnership of match.

Lloyd pulled Fernando for six en-route to a 73-ball fifty, but almost immediately afterwards he saw Donald bowled by Coad for 10 – Derbyshire 97-5 in the 31st over. And Lloyd followed soon after, Coad getting him caught behind for 57 as Derbyshire fell to 108-6 in the 34th. The end was nigh.

Coad continued his spree, trapping Alex Thomson lbw and getting Zak Chappell caught behind next ball – 116-8 after 37.

Fernando returned to replace him from the Pavilion End and bowled Sam Conners – 148-9 in the 41st over – but Ross Whiteley had some late fun with five sixes in 52 before chipping the departing left-arm quick to mid-wicket to seal Yorkshire’s deal.

The county now return to Vitality Blast action on Friday evening. They face Birmingham Bears at Headingley in the first of six remaining games as they pursue a quarter-final berth.