Yorkshire stun Somerset to shake up Division One title race
Yorkshire beat Somerset by 185 runs at Headingley to dent Somerset's title bid in the Rothesay County Championship Division One.
The win was sealed on the final day of the match on 18 September. Yorkshire took 19 points. Somerset took three, according to the final scorecard BBC Sport.
The scores tell the story. Yorkshire made 212 and 275 in their two turns to bat, what cricket calls innings. Somerset replied with 201 and 101.
Somerset were chasing 287 to win. They started the last day on 73-3. They lost their last seven wickets in 82 minutes to be bowled out for 101.
That collapse decided it. Ben Coad did much of the late damage. He finished with 4-33 in the second innings.
The player of the match, in truth, was Ben Cliff. The Yorkshire seamer finished with career-best match figures of 11-105. That is the 13th best return in Yorkshire's long first-class history.
Cliff set it up in the first innings with 8-76. He kept Somerset to an 11-run deficit after Yorkshire had been bowled out cheaply. Coad then took over when Somerset were 73-3 and still needing another 214, having already taken 2-23 overnight ESPNcricinfo.
Yorkshire had to fight for their position. They won the toss and chose to bat. Jonny Bairstow's 79 carried them to 212, with Lewis Gregory, Jake Ball and Migael Pretorius each taking three wickets.
They were in trouble again second time around at 128-6, only 139 runs ahead. George Hill and Dom Bess changed the game. Hill made 89. Bess made 77. Their stand lifted Yorkshire to 275 and set Somerset 287, with Craig Overton taking 3-44.
It was Yorkshire's fifth win in 13 games. For Somerset, it was a third defeat of the season. Two of those defeats have now come against Yorkshire.
What makes this stand out is the table. Warwickshire lead Division One by 11 points from second-placed Somerset. Somerset have never won the County Championship title.
For fans, this means a straight shootout. Somerset face Surrey at Taunton in the final round starting on Thursday. Yorkshire travel to Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge.
