George Hill six-for leaves Essex with a mountain to climb
Hosts skittled for 123 before Adam Lyth turns screw with bat in Yorkshire's second innings
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10-May-2025 • 3 hrs ago
George Hill ran through Essex for a six-wicket haul • Getty Images
Yorkshire 216 and 114 for 1 (Lyth 79*) lead Essex 123 (Hill 6-51) by 207 runs
George Hill produced the second-best bowling figures of his burgeoning first-class career as Essex were routed for 123 before Yorkshire extended their lead to 207 runs at Chelmsford.
The 24-year-old seamer added four wickets for 37 runs on the second day to finish with 6 for 51 - numbers only eclipsed by his 6 for 26 in the Roses match at Old Trafford in 2022 - and 19 wickets in all this season in the Rothesay County Championship.
Hill's Herculean effort, backed up fellow pace bowler Ben Coad's parsimonious 3 for 20 from 18 overs, helped Yorkshire establish a first-innings lead of 93, which they increased by 114 for the loss of one wicket in 49 overs. Experienced opener Adam Lyth led the way in taking the game away from Essex with an unbeaten 166-ball 79, his fifth score of 50 or more in 10 innings so far this spring.
A capricious pitch offered more lift and carry than it had on the first day. Whereas Yorkshire's first innings had been undermined by five lbws, Essex's was littered with catches to either the wicketkeeper or slip cordon. Hill was the main beneficiary.
It was also still a wicket that was difficult to score on: Essex managed two an over compared to Yorkshire's 2.5 in their first innings and 2.3 so far in the second.
However, the day belonged to Hill as he continued where he left off the night before. He already had Robin Das in trouble during the first 25 minutes of the day before he induced a thick edge that flew to third slip and initiated an inexorable decline.
Matt Critchley followed to a similar dismissal, dangling his bat at Coad and also ending up in Finlay Bean's hands at third slip. Tom Westley played a captain's innings for more than two hours before he became another victim in a tight opening spell from Coad, who found the faintest of edges from an angled bat.
Coad's second wicket of the morning marked the end of his opening burst of nine overs with five maidens and 10 runs. At that stage, Hill had 1 for 27 in the session from his nine overs.
From 59 for 6, Michael Pepper and Noah Thain pieced together a minor fightback with a stand of 46 in 17 overs. Neither, though, looked comfortable when spinner Dan Moriarty was introduced into the attack and when Pepper lunged forward to try and negate any turn, he could only nick behind.
The end was not much longer in coming. Though Thain greeted Hill's recall to arms with a glorious drive through extra cover for his fourth boundary, an attempt at an ambitious and expansive straighter drive at the fifth delivery proved his downfall.
Shane Snater became Jonny Bairstow's fifth catch behind the stumps when he went to fend off a fuller ball while Kasun Rajitha lasted just three balls before he walked into another Hill delivery and was lbw.
Lyth and Bean had given Yorkshire what should have been a solid platform in the first innings with an opening stand of 71 before the subsequent collapse to 216 all out. The pair were intent on replicating that partnership, though without any frills or risks.
Lyth passed fifty for the second time in the match - this time from 106 balls - at which point Bean had contributed just 14 to the effort. With another five runs to his tally, equalling his top score in a season of personal struggle, Bean went to pull Thain and got a leading edge. The partnership had been worth 72.
James Wharton, unbeaten with a painstaking 63 in the first innings, threw caution to the wind and launched Critchley on to the press box roof and into the river behind.
