Yorkshire produce first-class display against Shropshire at Wellington
Yorkshire produced a first-class display to secure victory over Shropshire in Sunday’s NCCA Showcase Game at Wellington.
Harry Duke’s fine unbeaten century helped a strong Yorkshire side accumulate an imposing 382-5 from their 50 overs.
England international Dom Bess then claimed four wickets as Shropshire were bowled out for 135, sealing a 247-run win for the visitors.
Ollie Westbury, who captained Shropshire, said: “These are the kind of games that you want to play in as a player. It’s been a brilliant day to see so many people at Wellington and a decent crowd and the weather, so, yes, it’s been a good occasion.
“We would probably have liked to given a better account of ourselves. I would say that we’re a better team than what we’ve shown today, but it’s challenging when you’re playing against players that are clearly very gifted with lots of options, lots of shots, and 382, which is what they got batting first here, was probably always going to be far too many for us to chase.”
A number of the players who so memorably helped Shropshire beat Yorkshire in the NatWest Trophy 40 years ago were watching at Orleton Park, but the players representing the Headingley club never suggested a similar outcome was likely this time.
Yorkshire skipper Jonny Tattersall elected to bat on winning the toss and Shropshire did enjoy some early success to reduce the visitors to 46-2.
But James Wharton (73) and George Hill (63) then combined for a third-wicket partnership of 133, eventually ended when Wharton was bowled by Lewis Evans.
That brought Duke to the crease and he went on the attack to hit an unbeaten 106 from 55 balls, a fine knock which featured three sixes and 12 fours,
He put on 73 for the fifth wicket with Tattersall (33) before sharing an unbroken sixth-wicket partnership with Matt Revis, who struck an unbeaten 49 from 23 balls.
Evans returned the best figures for Shropshire, 1-55 off his 10 overs, while there was also a wicket apiece for Sam Ellis, Ben Roberts, Joe Stanley and Alex Ollerenshaw, the four other bowlers used.
Shropshire, in reply, lost early wickets to leave them up against it at 50-3.
Shrewsbury team mates George Hargrave and Peter Clark attempted to lead a revival, with Hargrave in good touch until he fell for 40 from 43 balls.
Clark, whose 29 from 28 deliveries included two sixes and two fours, followed him back to the pavilion five overs later - and the wickets continued to fall.
Off-spinner Bess, who has played 14 Test matches for England, inflicted much of the damage by taking 4-20 from his seven overs - all of his wickets lbw - with Revis (2-22) and Dom Leech (2-24) also playing their part as Shropshire were removed for 135 in the 33rd over.
Westbury added: "When you look at the scorecard and you see the scores, obviously Yorkshire got a lot of runs and we didn’t.
"I suppose you can see the gulf in class between players, professionals who play day in, day out, and guys that don’t.
"It’s been a tough day at the office for us. I suppose we had high hopes coming in this morning that we could perhaps create a bit of an upset, but unfortunately that wasn’t to be for us today.
"We just didn’t quite get it right at various points and obviously when you’re playing against opposition which have got the skill level and the shots, they really did put us to the sword.”
Shropshire now turn their attention back to the NCCA Championship with their second Western Division Two three-day match against Wiltshire starting at South Wilts CC on Sunday.
