Yorkshire v Worcestershire (County Championship) : Day Two

Matthew Hoggard gave every indication that he is warming up nicely for next week's Test series against the West Indies by capturing an early wicket as Worcestershire chased Yorkshire's first innings score of 521 for seven declared at Headingley Carnegie yesterday.

Working up a fair pace at the Kirkstall Lane end, Hoggard looked a good deal faster than any of the Worcestershire bowlers and opener Stephen Moore was still not off the mark when he edged a rising delivery to Jaques Rudolph who made no mistake at first slip.

Jason Gillespie rattled Vikram Solanki's off stump to make it 39 for two but Australian, Phil Jaques, the former Yorkshire batsman, had reached 38 by the close when Worcestershire were 57 for two - still requiring a further 315 to avoid the follow on.

Although Yorkshire carved out a formidable score it took them 153 overs and they may still regret batting for so long if bad weather cuts deeply into the remainder of the match.

They were always in control with the bat, however, and they were well served by Joe Sayers and Rudolph, who each registered their second Championship centuries of the season.

But Worcestershire did not help themselves by fluffing five catches, with Sayers dropped on four during day one and Rudolph yesterday when 81.

None of the chances, however, went to captain Solanki who deputised behind the stumps for Steven Davies who did not take the field following the death of his grandmother.

Sayers and Anthony McGrath added 50 when Yorkshire began the second day on 202 for one before McGrath was lbw to Dewald Nel but Sayers moved serenely to his century off 242 balls with ten fours. It took him five hours and 28 minutes but was still the fastest of his four Championship tons.

Younus Khan was bowled by Nadeem Malik for 12 and Sayers' long innings finally ended when he pulled Nel to Stephen Moore at mid-wicket for 123. He had defied Worcestershire's attack for six hours and 25 minutes and it was his first dismissal at Headingley this season after holding the fort in three innings for a total of 16 hours and two minutes during which he faced 242.1 overs and made 282 runs.

Rudolph was well settled by the time he lost Sayers and he then added 104 with Gerard Brophy who survived a caught and bowled chance to Roger Sillence on eight and was put down by Gareth Batty at point on 25.

Brophy and Adil Rashid both departed to Nel and Tim Bresnan struck 33 before hitting Sillence to mid-wicket. Darren Gough smacked Sillence for a couple of fours and a six and had dashed to 22 when he declared, leaving Rudolph on 129 off 191 balls with 13 boundaries.

SCORECARD

Yorkshire v Worcestershire at Headingley Carnegie.

Overnight: Yorkshire 202-1 (C White 97).

Yorkshire First Innings
J J Sayers c Moore b Nel 123
A McGrath lbw b Nel 19
Younis Khan b Malik 12
J A Rudolph not out 129
G L Brophy lbw b Nel 44
A Rashid b Nel 5
T T Bresnan c Moore b Sillence 33
D Gough not out 22
Extras (b3 lb21 w5 nb8 pens 0) 37
Total 7 wkts dec (153 overs) 521
Fall: 1-177 2-227 3-257 4-298 5-402 6-408
7-486
Did Not Bat: J N Gillespie, M J Hoggard.
Score at 130 overs: 6-418
Bowling: Kabir Ali 31-8-81-0. Malik 27-4-98-1.
Nel 27-5-74-4. Sillence 34-7-120-2. Batty 29-5-
100-0. Moore 5-0-24-0.

Worcestershire First Innings Close
S C Moore c Rudolph b Hoggard 0
P A Jaques not out 38
V S Solanki b Gillespie 5
Kabir Ali not out 9
Extras (lb3 nb2 pens 0) 5
Total 2 wkts (16 overs) 57
Fall: 1-12 2-39
To Bat: B F Smith, S M Davies, G J Batty, R J
Sillence, G A Hick, M N Malik.
Bonus Pts: Yorkshire 5 Worcestershire 2
Bowling: Hoggard 8-2-27-1. Gillespie 6-0-27-1.
A Rashid 2-2-0-0.