Brilliant Bairstow blasts Gale’s men to Worcestershire success

Bairstow smashed 139 and 74 not out as Jason Gillespie’s men stayed unbeaten and top of the table after brushing aside Worcestershire by seven wickets and with time to spare on day four.

After winning the toss and batting first, Yorkshire were in trouble on 57-3 after Joe Leach removed Alex Lees, Will Rhodes and Jack Leaning.

But that brought skipper Andrew Gale and in-form Bairstow together and they proceeded to take the game away from the visitors with a 254-run partnership with Gale hitting 164 and England-bound Bairstow 139 before Yorkshire were 430 all out 430.

Yorkshire’s six-strong bowling attack dismissed Worcestershire for 280, agonisingly one run shy of their target to avoid the follow-on.

Steve Patterson, 3-34, led the charge with ample support from Jack Brooks, 2-65, and Adil Rashid, 2-39, while Ryan Sidebottom, Liam Plunkett and Tim Bresnan all grabbed a wicket each as 19-year-old Joe Clarke caught the eye with the bat as he compiled a superb 88 with support from Tom Fell, 30, and Pakistan spinner Saeed Ajmal, 37.

After enforcing the follow-on, Yorkshire’s bowlers again got to work with the cherry, all six again chipping away at the frail Worcestershire batting line-up as Ross Whiteley’s stunning 101 saved them from an embarrassing defeat.

Brooks led the charge with 3-41, while Plunkett shone with 2-26 and Sidebottom grabbed 2-37.

Yorkshire were left with a modest victory target of 157 and initially made hard work of their run-chase.

Rhodes, 12, and Leaning, 4, departed early on and when skipper Gale was bizarrely run-out at the non-striker’s end by Fell, the home side looked in a spot of bother.

But in-form Bairstow, 74, and opener Lees, 58, helped see Yorkshire home without further loss.

Gale and his side are back in action at North Marine Road on Sunday when they meet Gloucestershire Gladiators in their first Royal London One Day Cup clash of 2015.

Action at North Marine Road gets under way at 10.30am, with entry charged at £16 for adults, £10 seniors and £5 juniors via the turnstiles on the day.

Follow @SN_Sport for live updates on Sunday.