Adam and Jonny

By Gary Watton
June 14 2014

It may have been Friday the thirteenth, but on the day when Joe Root recorded his maiden test double hundred [hopefully the first of many], his county teammates took maximum points from their Twenty20 tussle away to the Steelbacks. The hero of the hour was Jonny Bairstow [now discarded by England]. Instead of basking in the test arena, the batsman-wicketkeeper has to make do with county cricket.

Well, he may have been short of big scores in recent weeks, but the talented Bairstow belatedly produced a big knock in Twenty20 cricket. With his aggressive batting, JB seems a natural for the Twenty20 theatre, but he has not always delivered, and indeed he has rarely done himself justice of late. Fortunately, on a night when Finch under-performed and Gale again looked hopelessly out of place as an opening batsman, Bairstow stepped up to the plate and rescued his team with sixty runs off only 37 deliveries. He was ably assisted by Alex Lees as they added fifty-three runs for the third wicket, and then by Adam Lyth who contributed enormously to an unbroken fourth wicket stand of ninety runs. It is good to know that Yorkshire Vikings need not rely solely upon the bravado of Aaron Finch, and with Lees and Bairstow chalking up big scores in recent weeks, the Tykes are now in fine fettle in pajamas cricket. In fact, three wins on the bounce suggest that this Vikings team just might mount a serious challenge for the Twenty20 prize. Of course, the bowling remains a bit erratic. Pyrah and Robinson conceded 68 runs off their six overs as they contrived to hand the hosts a lifeline. However, the home team fell short of a demanding target. Peculiarly, Yorkshire's two most economical bowlers, Patterson and Rafiq, were merely allocated three overs each. Where was the logic in that? Nevertheless, the Vikings will go boldly forth, safe in the knowledge that their batting unit has improved considerably upon last summer's puny efforts.

Northamptonshire Steelbacks versus YORKSHIRE VIKINGS; at Northampton; Friday June 13th; YORKSHIRE VIKINGS WON THE TOSS.

YORKSHIRE VIKINGS: 181 for three off twenty overs (Bairstow 60*)

Northamptonshire Steelbacks: 165 for nine off twenty overs (Levi 76) 

YORKSHIRE VIKINGS won by 16 runs. Northamptonshire Steelbacks 0 points, YORKSHIRE VIKINGS 2 points.

Twenty20Blast; North Group Table:

Worcestershire 10 points, from 7 fixtures

Lancashire 10 points, from 7 fixtures

YORKSHIRE 7 points, from 5 fixtures

Warwickshire 7 points, from 5 fixtures

Northamptonshire 5 points, from 5 fixtures

Durham 4 points, from 5 fixtures

Nottinghamshire 4 points, from 5 fixtures

Leicestershire 2 points, from 5 fixtures

Derbyshire 1 point, from 6 fixtures