Coad finishes with 10 in hefty Yorkshire win

Yorkshire 256 (Hodd 62, Fletcher 4-47) and 334 (Ballance 82, Bresnan 68*) beat Nottinghamshire 188 (Taylor 57, Coad 4-49) and 238 (Coad 6-81) by 164 runs
Scorecard

Yorkshire dotted the i's and crossed the t's on a Specsavers County Championship win by 164 runs over Nottinghamshire at Emerald Headingley, claiming the last two wickets within the first hour of play on the final day.

Their fast progressing seamer Ben Coad finished with six wickets in the second innings and 10 in the match as Notts forlornly pursued a target of 403. Coad finished with 6 for 81 in the innings and 10 for 130 in the match.

Notts started the chase at tea on day three and lost eight wickets before close, including one in the extra half hour. Tom Moores and Jake Ball, however, forced a final day before playing nicely during the opening hour of the day to post a ninth-wicket stand of 66 inside 16 overs.

They both played some eye-catching strokes, particularly down the ground, before Coad switched ends to the Kirkstall Lane End and immediately uprooted Ball's off stump for 30 and had Harry Gurney caught at slip.

This was Yorkshire's second match of the season, yet their first action after last weekend's opening round clash with Essex here at Headingley was abandoned without a ball bowled due a wet outfield.

They were under the cosh at 93 for 5 during the first morning before recovering to 256 and driving the contest from then onwards, claiming 21 points to three.

"We've spoken a lot about when the game's in the balance, someone's got to put their hand up (with the bat), and that's what we have done in this game. I thought we were ruthless at times," Andrew Gale, Yorkshire's coach, said. "There were certain partnerships, Ballance and Leaning in the second innings and ones at the back end of the first innings and second, that took the game away from Notts.

"At some periods, I didn't think we were at our best. But to win games of cricket, you need to be ruthless when it's in the balance. That's exactly what happened in this game. We can take a lot from that."

For Notts, it has been a mixed start to life back in Division One after their bowlers dismantled Lancashire at Old Trafford last weekend.

They will be looking to bounce back against Worcestershire at New Road, starting on Friday, when England Test bowler Stuart Broad will be available for the first of three matches prior to the early summer series against Pakistan next month. Broad has been preparing with his team-mates here for the last two days.

"I just think we've been outplayed, basically," Steve Mullaney, the Notts captain, said. "It was a good chance to bowl first up and we bowled well. We were in a decent position with them at 250 because it was a decent wicket. But we messed up first innings. We've also let the tail get away twice bowling. That can happen, but I think our first-innings batting really let us down.

"I've been through every emotion as a captain during these two weeks, that is for sure. But I'm not worried. We're one and one. We outplayed Lancashire last week and have been outplayed by Yorkshire this."

The Worcestershire clash also represents their third successive away game to start the season in order for building work at the Radcliffe Road end of Trent Bridge to be completed. Worcestershire have started life in Division One with two defeats from two.

Yorkshire's third fixture of the campaign is at Taunton against Somerset, who started their summer with a home win over Worcestershire this weekend.

Last season, Yorkshire beat Somerset by three runs in a thrilling contest there, and it proved to be crucial as they ended up avoiding relegation to Division Two by just two points.

Their England Test players, Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow, are unavailable until the following round when they visit champions Essex at Chelmsford. They will also play against Surrey at The Oval.