County Championship 2022 | Gareth Bergy's 5/58 sees Yorkshire reeling at 296

Day 1 of the County Championship Division One match between Northamptonshire and Yorkshire witnessed some riveting contests between bat and the ball.

Electing to bat first at the County Ground located in Northampton, Yorkshire got off to a disastrous start. Gareth Bergy accounted for the top 3 batters, including Sri Lanka’s Test captain, Dimuth Karunaratne and Yorkshire was left reeling on 22/3.

With the threat of a collapse looming large, Yorkshire required the pair of Dawid Malan and Harry Brook to steady the ship without taking risks. However, the duo had other ideas as they delivered a counter-attacking punch. 

Dawid Malan got a reprieve when he had not opened his account. And he ensured that the opposition paid for the dropped chance. He raced off to his fifty at a rapid rate. And he was well supported by young Harry Brook. Their 131-run stand ended with Berg trapping Malan before the wicket. 

Harry Brook was then joined in the middle by wicketkeeper Harry Duke. However, the latter was cleaned up on 22 by Ben Sanderson. Duke’s wicket triggered a mini-collapse. 

First, Dom Bess got bowled by off-spinner Rob Keogh. Then, the well set Harry Brook got dismissed by Sanderson on 84. Brook’s aggressive knock was laced with eleven fours and a six. 

Just when the pendulum had swung in Northamptonshire’s favour, Jordan Thompson and Matthew Revis rose to the occasion. Their 69-run partnership for the eighth wicket frustrated the opposition. 

Once Thompson fell with the score reading 275/8, the ending was nigh. Yorkshire got bundled out on 296, with Berg claiming a well-deserved fifer.

Northamptonshire, however, did not have the best of starts to their innings. They finished the day’s play with 26 on the board but have lost two vital wickets. 

Jordan Thompson took out skipper Ricardo Vasconcelos and Simon Kerrigan on successive balls. Opener Will Young (10*) and nightwatchman Matthew Kelly (1*) will be the two overnight batters resuming on Day 2.

Brief scores: 

Northamptonshire 26/2 (Trail by 270 runs)

Will Young 10*

Jordan Thompson 13/2

Yorkshire 296/10

Harry Brook 84, Dawid Malan 64, 

Gareth Berg 58/5