Patterson strikes to give Yorkshire hope
Motorcycling
Cal Crutchlow set a track record at the Circuito de Jerez-Angel Nieto to take pole position in the Spanish MotoGP. The Briton pushed his Honda to a lap time of 1min, 37.653sec on the recently repaved track, securing his first pole since the British GP in 2016. Dani Pedrosa, was second fastest. Given that Yorkshire were skittled for 50 in their first innings, to enter day three of an extraordinary Specsavers County Championship match against Essex at Chelmsford with a reasonable chance of victory represents an achievement of sorts.
And such has been this game’s unpredictability that few would wager much on what might happen next, with Essex scrapping in their second innings on 97 for four, needing a further 141 runs to win.
But Steven Patterson’s four-wicket 21-ball evening burst, in which he sent back Alastair Cook, Tom Westley, Nick Browne and Ravi Bopara, rocked Essex back and put them in danger of their first Championship defeat since September 2016.
Yorkshire recovered from their first-innings disaster thanks to the statement of intent issued from makeshift opener Jonny Bairstow, who hit 50 on the first evening. It was carried on by 19-year-old Harry Brook, who scored his maiden first-class century, improving his highest score from 38 to 124 in the process. He was eventually out after 187 balls, 13 fours, a six and a fourth-wicket stand of 86 with England captain Joe Root, who made 35 before dragging on.
At Emirates Old Trafford, Keaton Jennings and Dane Vilas shared an unbroken third-wicket stand of 169 as
fought back strongly against Replying to the visitors’ 429, in which Tom Abell was cruelly dismissed lbw on 99. the home side were 217 for two at the close with Jennings on 91 not out, his first halfcentury in a first-class match since last June, and Vilas unbeaten on 83.
In Somerset’s innings, Lancashire seamer Jimmy Anderson, who was playing his first game of the season, returned figures of nought for 91 from 26 overs
Even though Rory Burns has long been one of county cricket’s most consistent performers,
opener seldom gets much of a mention when potential England batsmen get discussed, with most attention focused on his Mark Stoneman, his
Rugby Union
The Auckland-based Blues beat New South Wales 24-21 to extend an embarrassing run of defeats for Australian teams against New Zealand opponents in Super Rugby. Despite the Waratahs going in as the leading team in the Australian conference, Blues held on through 19 phases over opening partner and the England incumbent. But Burns’s accomplished 193 against yesterday, when Stoneman (28) failed to make 30 for the fifth time this season, means that Burns now has 310 runs to Stoneman’s 85 this season.
Burns batted for just eight minutes short of nine hours, hitting 18 fours from 408 balls of determined accumulation and was eventually eighth out to a sharp slip catch as Surrey set a challenging first-innings total of 434 at the Kia Oval.
However, Daryl Mitchell’s gritty 77 not out from 132 balls helped Worcestershire reach 135 for one from 45 overs in reply. Mitchell’s innings was the first championship score of 50 or more made by a Worcestershire top order batsman this season.
In their three previous games, only Ben Cox and Ed Barnard had made half-centuries, while opener Brett D’Oliveira had endured six successive low scores. When D’Oliveira square drove for four to go to 14 he had more than doubled his run tally of his first six innings. He went on to make 23. Division One leaders
had another outstanding day when openers Steven Mullaney and Jake Libby batted throughout the final session to reach the close against on 136 without loss, an overall
advantage of 215.
Tennis
game with turned on the unfortunate run out of Shaun Marsh with the Welsh side apparently cruising on 137 for one. A poor call from his partner Jack Murphy combined with a fine throw from Will Gidman left Marsh stranded on 76. Glamorgan’s reply foundered and, by the close, they were 273 for nine, a lead of 193 with time and the weather on Kent’s side. South African Aiden Markram was dismissed for a duck for the third time in three innings as Durham’s batting woes continued against the closing minutes. The victory made it 38 consecutive wins by New Zealand teams against Australian rivals.
Petra Kvitova won her third title of the year after fighting back to beat Romanian Mihaela Buzarnescu 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 in the Prague Open final.