Warwickshire survive fine 90 from Joe Root to set up 185 victory target

Warwickshire survived a fine 90 from England star Joe Root to set up a target of 185 in order to secure victory in their Rothesay County Championship clash with Yorkshire at Headingley.

Yorkshire were bowled out for 232 in their second innings late on day two, with visiting new-ball seamer Ethan Bamber adding four wickets to his five in the first innings, completing impressive match figures of 9 for 107.

Warwickshire then closed on 15 without loss from three overs of their run chase.

The day started with the Bears, replying to a first-innings 205, advancing from 161 for six overnight to 253 all out, with Australian Test all-rounder Beau Webster completing a superb 85 off 86 balls on debut.

He helped secure a lead of 48 but was the last visiting wicket to fall, caught trying to attack against New Zealand quick Ben Sears, who finished with four wickets.

Ed Barnard removed Root for one in the first innings, though the chances of that happening again were realistically slim. But Warwickshire's bowlers chipped away at the wickets when they started bowling again 35 minutes before lunch.

They built early pressure. Bamber bowled locum opener Dom Bess in the third over, leaving the score at 9 for 1.

And, either side of lunch, that was the first of seven successive maidens bowled by him and new-ball partner Olly Hannon-Dalby, who hails from down the road in Halifax.

James Wharton was run out at the non-striker's end during the early stages of the afternoon following a mix-up with opener Adam Lyth, who then went on to share a third-wicket 71 with Root from 19 for 2.

Both look assured, though Lyth's effort was curtailed 10 runs short of a fifty when he edged behind off the back foot to Ed Barnard's seam, leaving the hosts at 90 for 3 in the 28th over.

The ICC's No. 1 and No. 2 ranked Test batters, Root and Harry Brook, then shared 53 for the fourth wicket, though the latter's stay was too brief for Yorkshire's liking. He fell lbw for 20, playing around a full ball from seamer Michael Booth shortly before tea, where the hosts reached at 152 for 4 with a lead of 104.

Jonny Bairstow top-edged a pull at Bamber behind on six, with wicketkeeper Kai Smith taking a smart running catch, before George Hill edged Barnard to second slip. And when Jordan Thompson miscued to cover as Barnard struck for a third time, Yorkshire were 190 for 7 in the 60th over, leading by 142.

All the while, Root looked commanding at the crease in his 100th first-class innings for the county, hitting 13 fours in 131 balls. He reached his fifty off 64 balls, and one driven boundary straight of mid-off against Webster was particularly memorable. However, he missed out on a century when he top-edged a pull to backward point off Bamber to make it 219 for 8.

Dan Mousley was the catcher, and the same combination did for Sears soon after before Ben Coad was bowled by Booth for 28, giving Warwickshire a short period of batting to navigate before close.

With the bat in the first innings, Webster was excellent before lunch in getting the Bears up to and just beyond 250.

A tall and imposing figure at the crease, he mixed power with invention in moving from 32 overnight to reach his fifty off 54 balls and give his new county a decent lead and a batting bonus point.

He scooped Coad for six and muscled expensive compatriot seamer Jordan Buckingham, also on debut for Yorkshire, through the off-side for a trio of boundaries to help the Bears into the lead.

He dominated a 74-run partnership for the eighth wicket with keeper Smith before pulling Sears to midwicket to end the innings. Smith contributed 19.

Sears and Hill claimed two wickets apiece, three of them caught behind by Bairstow.