Surrey wrap up win inside 3 day's at Leeds
After taking an early lunch the umpires led the players out at twenty past one and Ryan Sidebottom got off the mark in fine style with a full swing of the bat to a ball from Martin Bicknell
Ed Green26-Apr-2002After taking an early lunch the umpires led the players out at twenty past one and Ryan Sidebottom got off the mark in fine style with a full swing of the bat to a ball from Martin Bicknell. For the next half dozen overs he and Lumb resisted some excellent bowling in conditions that did nothing for the batsmen using the only appropriate tactics in the circumstances – leave, dab, whack. There was never any air of permanence about the partnership though and it came as no surprise when bowled Sidebottom with the score on 20 for an enjoyable 14.There was more misery in store for the home team though as in Bicknell’s next over he accepted a return catch from Darren Lehmann for just one run, with him any hope of forcing Surrey to bat again disappeared. Bicknell’s secure hands were involved again soon afterwards as he took his fourth catch of the game to dismiss first innings top scorer Lumb for 15 and give Tudor his second wicket of the innings.Taylor and Fellows then set about the nigh impossible task of salvaging some dignity from this game, Taylor batting in the same defensive style that Yorkshire had sought to survive in on the first day while Fellows played his shots against both bowlers, taking advantage of the hugely attacking fields set by Butcher. In steadily improving weather both players enjoyed more luck than many of their colleagues as they succeeded in seeing off the new ball bowlers.Fellows lock ran out however in Ormonds first over and well directed ball staying low resulting in the kind of LBW that no batsman can do much about and no umpire hesitates much about either, just one more wicket was to fall before the rain returned to delay the inevitable further, Azhar trapping Hamilton leg before.Day 3 eveningAfter tea Yorkshire’s Chris Taylor continued to battle on well against insurmountable odds on the pleasant early evening sunshine, ably assisted by first Blakey and then Silverwood, who appeared to enjoy his 38 from thirty five balls hitting some lusty blows in defeat. It couldn’t last for ever and Azhar and Jimmy Ormond wrapped up the innings Steve Kirby being last man out, lbw to Azhar, having just brought up the 200, it was a fair achievement for the Yorks lower order despite the massive scale of Surrey’s victory – at one point it didn’t look as though Yorkshire would pass the seventy runs they needed to avoid being beaten by and innings and three hundred.Surrey will now head south for a well earned day off, while the Yorkshire team will likely be expected to turn up early for practice in the morning, their supporters can be certain that they’ll play much better than this on most occasions this season, and do so against less formidable opposition.The champions will be grateful of the break provided by the group stage of the Benson and Hedges Cup before they head to Taunton for their second game the Championship is a marathon not a sprint and Yorkshire, despite this one defeat are still well equipped to challenge. The omens are not good though for Surrey’s rivals, in recent years they have been slow starters failing to win either or their opening games since 1998.