WARKS vs YORKS 2nd Match, T20 Blast 2023

In pursuit of a hefty total of 201, the Yorkshire Vikings were off to a dreadful start as Birmingham bowlers ripped apart their top order in the powerplay. The right-armer Chris Woakes started the assault for the Bears by dismissing the southpaw Adam Lyth 1(4)  in the opening over of the innings.  Jonny Bairstow walked in at number three and secured an alluring boundary on his comeback but a peach of teh delivery from Henry Brookes ceased the right-handers’ stay on 7(6).

The Yorkshire skipper Shan Masood was the next batter in, but another outswinger from Woakes had the better of the Pakistan southpaw. Masood returned for 5(6) before Brookes cleaned up Will Fraine for a duck and attained his second scalp. Alex Davies introduced spin in the last over of the powerplay and Dan Mousley had an immediate impact. The right-arm spinner dismissed Matthew Revis for 10(8) and the Vikings were reeling at 34/5 after the end of the powerplay. 

Bess 42*(28) and Jafer Chohan 37(20) kept fighting till the end and aggregated a whopping 62 runs for the 9th wicket. Both Bess and Chohan used all their might and swatted some boundaries at the backend of the innings to elude a drubbing. Brookes was the pick of the bowlers for the Bears and bagged a sensational four-wicket haul. Woakes and Miles extracted a couple of wickets each while Dan Mousley also bagged a wicket. Lintott also extracted a wicket but he leaked 45 runs in three overs. 

Earlier in the day, after being invited to bat first, the Irish batter Paul Stirling and Robert Yates spearheaded the innings for the Birmingham Bears. The left-hander Yates smacked a couple of early boundaries before Ben Mike dismissed him in the second over and drew first blood for the Bears. Skipper Alex Davies walked in at number three and absorbed the pressure. 

However, Yorkshire Vikings quickly revived the innings and claimed wickets in heaps. Matthew Revis got better off Paul Stirling 10(12) in the 4th over and that was soon followed by the wicket of skipper Alex Davies 9(8). Sam Hain joined forces with Dan Mousley and the duo provided some respite from wickets tumbling at the other end. Just when they were starting to have a move on, Dominic Bess cleaned up the left-handed Mousley 11(10). 

Tottering at 51/4, Chris Benjamin joined forces with Sam Hain and the duo brought the Bears into the contest. They stitched a 97-run partnership for the 5th wicket and completely changed the complexion of the game. The right-handed Benjamin aggregated 46(28) before Matthew Revis attained his crucial scalp.