Warwickshire completed a level-headed chase of 185 on day three to beat Yorkshire by five wickets at Headingley, securing their second County Championship victory of the season.
The Bears started the day on 15 without loss, and openers Rob Yates and Alex Davies contributed 41 and 31 respectively. However, they reached lunch with a 20-point haul by no means secure at 109-4, needing 76 more.
But they were able to move into the top three places in the Division One table midway through the afternoon tea thanks to first-class debutant Zen Malik, who finished 49 not out off 73 balls, including a pulled six off George Hill to win it.
While Warwickshire won their second game in four at the start of this season, Yorkshire have now lost two from four and are in the top flight’s bottom three.
The hosts will be mightily frustrated at the fact they were unable to capitalise on the one-game availability of England batting duo Harry Brook and Joe Root. The latter’s second-innings 90 was their best score in four innings.
However, consistently, they did not bowl well enough on a grassy pitch offering significant assistance for the bowlers.
Overseas Australian debutant Jordan Buckingham went at more than seven runs an over across the two innings on his debut, striking only twice.
And the Bears were deserved winners, backing up last month’s one-wicket success at Durham.
While they did not dominate this fixture, they were on top for much of it and were able to capitalise on winning an important toss and bowling Yorkshire out for 205 on day one.
Their new-ball seamer Ethan Bamber excelled with match figures of 9-107. Australian Test all-rounder Beau Webster should also be credited for an excellent 85 in the first innings, which secured what proved to be a decisive 48-run lead for the visitors.
Captain Davies started positively this morning. Of the seven boundaries he hit in his 31, three of them came off one Hill over. Two were clipped through the leg-side and the other handsomely driven through the covers.
However, he was bowled through the gate by a beauty of an in-swinger from Ben Coad, losing his off and middle stumps in the process as the score fell to 45-1 in the 13th over – the day’s 10th.
Buckingham then had Hamza Shaikh caught behind at 60-2, immediately before a 10-minute rain delay, and Yates and Dan Mousley fell to New Zealand quick Ben Sears and Jordan Thompson respectively to boost Yorkshire before lunch.
Left-handed Yates had been more reserved than his opening partner Davies, though by no means becalmed.
He pulled Buckingham for four through midwicket and clipped Thompson through the same region for a couple of boundaries in as many overs as the score reached 85-2, 100 more needed for the visitors.
There would have been some nerves in the away dressing room when Yates was undone by extra bounce from Sears and edged a looping catch to Root at first slip before, at the start of the morning’s final over, Thompson uprooted Mousley’s off-stump – 109-4 in the 30th over.
Though, those nerves wouldn’t have been around for long given how settled 27-year-old Malik looked in a fifth-wicket partnership of 59 with Ed Barnard.
Right-hander Malik was strong on both sides of the wicket, and when he beautifully drove Thompson for four straight of mid-on to move into the thirties, Warwickshire were 136-4 needing 49 more.
All-rounder Barnard, meanwhile, had an excellent game with three wickets in each innings, 41 with the bat first time around and then 37 to help get them over the line.
With the Bears closing in, he even nonchalantly ramped Sears for six over third but edged the same bowler behind with 17 needed. It was a purely consolatory strike.
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