Match Report – BEARS vs YORKS North Group, 14 June 2024

Birmingham 151 for 6 (Hain 53*, Thompson 4-31) batted Yorkshire 145 (Root 39, Lintott 3-15, Briggs 3-26) in four overs

Birmingham Bears returned to winning ways after back-to-back Vitality Blast defeats with a comfortable four-wicket victory over Yorkshire Vikings at Edgbaston.

Young, the Vikings soon lost Adam Lyth, who played in front of Richard Gleeson, but Malan and Root provided a vibrant start with a stand of 62 in 46 balls. Chris Woakes, on his first Bears appearance of the year, was treated roughly, not least by old England friend Root, who lifted him for successive sixes in the Hollies Stand.

The charge was stopped hard by the spinning attack. Root cut a slog to Briggs and sent a simple catch at short third, after which wickets fell regularly. Shan Masood reverse-swept Lintott’s first ball at point and Donovan Ferreira shoveled Mousley at mid-on. When Briggs returned to draw two more batsmen to their fate – Malan was caught at extra cover and Jordan Thompson at long-off – five wickets fell in 35 balls.

Guilty of some reckless hitting, the Vikings responded by making more plays. Lintott took the opportunity to drop Matthew Revis on a misjudged sweep and let Jafer Chohan wear him down. Dom Bess chipped Hasan Ali to cover and Conor McKer cut Gleeson at third to leave the last nine wickets down for 68.

Unsurprisingly, the Vikings started with spin and Dan Moriarty’s fifth ball drew a fatal peak from Alex Davies before Bess’s seventh beat a Rob Yates slog and bowled him.

Hain settled calmly though, while Mousley was belligerent from the first ball. He kept the Bears ahead of the clock before dying in search of his third six of the evening and the 29th of his T20 career when he lifted Thompson at deep square leg.

While Hain quietly delivered the kind of smart, match-shaping innings he has played so many of, Bethell went out of his way to fire a long Root hop into the Hollies Stand. Bethell’s cameo left the Bears needing just 30 off 39 balls. He and Chris Benjamin fell to successive balls from Thompson, who added the scalp of Woakes to finish with 4 for 31, but the Bears cruised home to their fifth win in their last six Blast clashes with the Vikings.