Gareth Berg struck three times in eight balls for Hampshire on the way to his first five-wicket haul for nearly five years as Yorkshire’s batting came under pressure for the second County Championship match running.
Yorkshire may be well placed to win a third straight championship title but they have been far from convincing this summer. Top-order problems have been a regular occurrence, leaving the lower order to bail them out. Jake Lehmann and Tim Bresnan posted fifties as the champions recovered from 57 for three before lunch to put themselves in reasonable health at 216 for five shortly after tea.
But that was when Berg enjoyed a memorable spell of medium-pace bowling in helpful conditions – it did a bit all day off the pitch and through the air. He helped to reduce the score to 234 for nine, bowling Bresnan, Andy Hodd and getting Azeem Rafiq caught behind. Mason Crane then had Steve Patterson caught at short leg. Jack Brooks and Ryan Sidebottom shared an unbroken 41 to frustrate Hampshire before the close, which came 10 overs early owing to bad light, but the hosts will still be the happier of the two camps.
Before this performance, Berg, who had earlier struck to have Gary Ballance caught behind and Lehmann taken at second slip, had taken only 10 wickets in seven championship appearances this season. His last five-for came for Middlesex against Glamorgan in early September 2011. In fact, his previous three hauls of five wickets or more have all come in Division Two.
Last week, Yorkshire were 51 for six against Nottinghamshire at Scarborough and still won. So, relegation-threatened Hampshire are by no means in charge just yet. They can quite rightly feel chuffed with their day’s work after Andrew Gale had opted to toss and elected to bat under sunny skies.
Those sunny skies had turned grey inside the first hour of play on what proved to be a largely overcast day. Yorkshire’s batting, aside from a couple of partnerships, was not terrible against an accurate attack. It was a bit soft, however.
The openers Alex Lees and Adam Lyth were both caught at backward point inside the first 16 overs, with Lyth’s dismissal owing a lot to an excellent one-handed catch from Will Smith. Ballance endured a rocky 33-ball stay at the crease before lunch when he was dropped twice at third slip by his Test colleague James Vince on six and seven before falling to Berg for 10.
The Australian left-hander Lehmann was the aggressor in a fourth-wicket stand of 62 with Gale before they were the two afternoon wickets as the score fell to 143 for five. A left-hander with minimal foot movement, he was particularly strong on the drive on the way to his maiden championship half-century.
Bresnan and Hodd then shared 73 either side of tea for the sixth wicket as they threatened a strong recovery but that was when Berg had his say to give Hampshire the edge despite Brooks and Sidebottom’s last-wicket rally.
