Yorkshire secured the biggest victory in County Championship history, beating Worcestershire by 504 runs at Headingley.
The Pears battled to a heroic rearguard last week, batting out 200 overs to safety with one wicket remaining against Somerset. Requiring something similar again this week, set a theoretical 610 to win in a little under five sessions, they crumbled instead, subsiding for 105. That total included a collapse of 7-19, from 72-2 to 91-9.
The margin is the biggest in County Championship history, overtaking the 483-run victory by Surrey against Leicestershire at The Oval in 2002. Yorkshire were dominant from the off, racking up 458 at 4.5 runs per over to claim maximum batting bonus points and then skittling Worcestershire for 162. Dawid Malan’s 98 was the main first-innings contribution, with Adam Lyth, George Hill and Jordan Thompson also making half-centuries. Thompson’s 70 took just 58 balls, giving the hosts a strong finish.
After an opening stand of 90, Worcestershire folded. Ben Coad claimed four and Thompson three to claim a first-innings lead of nearly 300. With plenty of time to spare, Yorkshire opted not to enforce the follow-on, instead heaping more misery on their opponents. Dom Bess made full use of a promotion as nightwatchman to No.3 by cracking a brisk hundred on the morning of day three, while Malan (76* off 64) and Jonny Bairstow (44* off 26) put on a rollicking stand to evoke their heydays as world-class international white-ball batters and propel their side towards a declaration.
Worcestershire needed another miracle, but couldn’t summon one. Hill took four wickets and Thompson and Jack White claimed two each to wrap up a dominant victory, one that will take some beating if it is ever to be toppled in the record books.
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