Yorkshire Vikings’ big guns missing in action as they look to quickly avenge T20 Blast defeat to Durham
Jonny Bairstow who has top-scored in all four group games which have produced three wins and one defeat, misses the match against Durham at Emerald Headingley with an ankle injury sustained while scoring a century in the victory at Worcestershire on Wednesday.
Adil Rashid, who returned Yorkshire’s best figures in that game of 3-32, and who is their most economical bowler in this year’s tournament with an economy rate of 7.12 runs per over, has been rested ahead of England’s three-match T20 series against Sri Lanka that begins on Wednesday.
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Hide AdAnd Dawid Malan, the world’s No 1-ranked T20 batsman, also misses tonight in an effort to settle a sore Achilles ahead of the Sri Lanka series.
David Willey, the Yorkshire T20 captain, will play this evening despite, like Rashid, being part of the England squad along with Malan and Bairstow, the latter now awaiting the result of a scan.
Yorkshire will be without that star quartet for their remaining 10 group fixtures if they are part of England’s various white-ball squads in the coming weeks.
Joe Root will return for Sunday’s match against Derbyshire at Headingley, having had a week off after the New Zealand Test series. Andrew Gale, the Yorkshire first-team coach, said that the Test captain would be available for “three or four” T20s.
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Hide Ad“Joe has taken a little bit of a break this week and will be back on Sunday,” said Gale. “Jonny’s not available with his injury, and Dawid’s been carrying a sore Achilles for a few weeks now.
“Dave Willey will play (tonight), but Adil’s not going to be available as both parties (Yorkshire and England) have agreed to rest ahead of the white-ball series.”
Reflecting on the overall situation, Gale was upbeat after the win at Worcestershire backed up the previous night’s triumph at home to Leicestershire. Yorkshire opened the tournament by beating Birmingham Bears before losing to tonight’s opponents at Chester-le-Street.
“It was important for us to get off to a good start in this comp, given the players that we’ve had available,” he said. “Although we were disappointed to lose at Durham, to win back-to-back games was really pleasing.
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Hide Ad“We’ll have a few players missing now, but the good thing is that the players who are coming in are coming into a winning team.”
All-rounder George Hill, pace bowler Dominic Leech and leg-spinner Josh Poysden replace Bairstow, Rashid and Malan in tonight’s 14-man squad.
Tom Kohler-Cadmore is set to continue behind the stumps after deputising for Bairstow at Worcester, enabling Yorkshire to retain the balance of a keeper who bats in the top-order.
Kohler-Cadmore has struggled with the bat this season, but he scored 53, his first half-century of the campaign, against his former club.
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Hide Ad“I’m pleased for Tom,” said Gale. “He’s had a tough summer and things haven’t gone to plan for him. He’s got a great record opening the batting (in T20), and he’s had to move down the order (to accommodate Bairstow’s return). But he responded in the right manner and that was an important innings. I thought he did a really good job.”
Yorkshire (from): Ballance, Bess, Brook, Ferguson, Fraine, Fisher, Hill, Kohler-Cadmore, Leech, Lyth, Poysden, Thompson, Waite, Willey (captain).
Yorkshire’s T20 at Derbyshire on July 18 has been switched from Chesterfield to Derby due to the ongoing Covid restrictions.
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