County Championship: Yorkshire batsmen start well against Hampshire
Last updated on .From the section Counties
| Specsavers County Championship Division One, Ageas Bowl (day one): |
| Yorkshire 310-3: Ballance 120*, Root 94, Lyth 67; Edwards 2-56 |
| Hampshire: Yet to bat |
| Yorkshire 3 pts, Hampshire 1 pt |
| Scorecard |
England Test captain Joe Root was in the runs again to help Yorkshire reach 310-3 on day one against Hampshire.
Root followed scores of 73 and 130 not out against Nottinghamshire last week with 94 at the Ageas Bowl, before being bowled by spinner Liam Dawson.
He provided support to Gary Ballance, who hit an unbeaten 120 as they shared a 182-run stand for the third wicket.
Adam Lyth earlier made 67, passing 10,000 career runs in the progress, before falling to Fidel Edwards (2-56).
Ballance and Root saved Yorkshire from defeat by Notts in their opening Championship match of the new season with an unbroken partnership of 253.
And they were in full control again after Lyth had been caught behind down the leg-side off Edwards to leave the score on 109-2, as Hampshire were unable to find the penetration that brought them an innings win over Essex in their opening game.
Root deposited Dawson over long-off for six and also struck five fours, while Ballance found the boundary on 10 occasions as he reached his second successive century off 214 balls.
With younger brother Billy scoring a hundred for Glamorgan against Northants, Root had one of his own there for the taking, but lost momentum in the 90s and perished when he played across the line to a straight one by Dawson seven overs before the close.
England Test captain Joe Root:
"We are delighted. It was quite hard graft on a slow wicket and a soft ball made it quite difficult. But, looking at the board now, you'd like to think with the batting we've got left, we're more than capable of going on and getting past 400 to put them under real pressure.
"There were a lot of fielders in front of the bat, and it was just about grinding them down. More than anything, not letting your ego get in the way of scoring at a certain rate.
"We're in that position now where we can do that, and hopefully Gary can make this big hundred count. I'm disappointed that I didn't make that score into a 150-plus. But it has been great to come back and contribute. There have been a couple of occasions over the last few years where I've not managed to, so it's really pleasing to get a few runs."
Hampshire first team manager Adi Birrell:
"It was a long day for us. It looked like a really good batting wicket so I was really concerned at the toss. They have a good batting side and their two Test batsmen got in and went quite bit. It was a toil.
"I am really proud of the way the guys fought in the last session. Before lunch they were going at nearly four an over and the challenge was to claw it back, so to go at 2.5 in the last session with two Test players in was outstanding.
"I went and stood behind and had a look at it wasn't doing a lot and was quite slow - so it was hard to get wickets there. There is the concern Yorkshire will do what we did to Essex but we look at our batters and they are all in form. There is no reason why we can't make them toil as well."
