Tykes pummelled in Pro40 opener

10:01am Thursday 17th July 2008

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Yorkshire captain Darren Gough suffered an injury scare as his side were comprehensively beaten by five wickets in their opening NatWest Pro40 League match against Essex at Chelmsford.

Gough only bowled two balls of his opening spell and limped off the field after 11 overs of the home side’s run chase.

The skipper later returned to the action and is not expected to be in danger of missing any games, but he was unable to prevent his side slipping to a disappointing division two defeat.

Yorkshire’s poor performance with the bat was once more their downfall as they struggled to cope with the Essex attack.

After winning the toss and electing to bat, a good opening stand was needed to boost morale, but it did not materialise.

It took only five balls for the home side to make the breakthrough, Graham Napier taking the wicket of Andrew Gale for one.

Yorkshire were soon two down, Gerard Brophy trapped lbw after trying to play across the line with only six runs on the board.

In fact, apart from Rana Naved, who was promoted up the order to number three, the top eight Yorkshire batsmen amassed only 42 runs as the Essex attack cut through them with ease.

At one stage, it looked like the total would be even smaller, but a spirited last-wicket stand of 44 from Gough and David Wainwright made sure the Yorkshire bowlers had something to protect.

In the end they were all out for 157, with Naved top-scoring on 57 before being brilliantly caught and bowled by Pakistan team-mate Danish Kaneria for 57.

Essex, led by skipper Mark Pettini, then romped home with 42 balls to spare.

He and Napier put on 63 for the second wicket, aided by some generous Yorkshire fielding.

Gough was the main offender, failing to hold on to an easy catch off Napier when the dangerman was on only 14, and conceding four overthrows to help relieve pressure early on.

Napier did eventually leave the scene after making 46 but, by that time, Essex were 86-2 and the result was almost inevitable.

Pettini went on to make 57 before being trapped lbw by the impressive Wainwright as the Yorkshire spin attack gave it their best shot.

It was not enough, though, as Grant Flower and Ryan ten Doeschate ensured Essex, who knocked the Tykes out of the Friends Provident Trophy semi-finals, wrapped up the victory.

Yorkshire’s next chance to get back to winning ways is also in the Pro40 League, this time against Surrey at Guildford on Sunday.

* An English Premier League Twenty20 competition will be played by all 18 first-class counties and will be introduced for the domestic season from 2010. The Pro40 competition will be scrapped to make way for the new event.