County Championship: Jonny Bairstow scores century for Yorkshire

England’s Jonny Bairstow scored his first first-class century in just over two years as Yorkshire were by far the better side on the opening day of their County Championship promotion battle with Middlesex at Headingley.

Bairstow, 34, has struggled with form recently and has been dropped by every England team in the last two months. But he refuses to be written off, as this superb 107 not out from 130 balls suggests.

He supported Yorkshire’s 372-5 from 96 overs and was supported by half-centuries from Adam Lyth and George Hill. The impressive Luke Hollman returned 3-99 from 27 overs of leg-spin.

Yorkshire went into this match, the 11th of 14, in third place in Division Two – three points behind second-placed Middlesex, both having won their respective games the previous week.

Having won the reverse fixture at Lord’s in April, Middlesex knew that completing the double would give them a stranglehold on the race for a return to the top flight. But they still have a lot of work to do.

Most cricket fans know that Bairstow is at his most dangerous when he has something to prove.

And since he had been rejected by England, he still had some work to do.

This was also his first first-class century for Yorkshire since May 2016.

Yorkshire started well, with first-class debutant Noah Cornwell, Middlesex’s left-handed hurler for the England Under-19 team, and Toby Roland-Jones under early pressure.

Lyth and Fin Bean shared 68 in 16 overs, finding boundaries regularly. Bean, for example, hit two off Roland-Jones in the first over after the hosts opted to bat on a hybrid pitch with two frontline spinners in their side.

By the time Lyth reached his fifty from 56 balls, Bean had been removed for 27 – bowled by Henry Brookes who had attempted a draw.

And when Lyth was lbw for 61, supported by Luke Hollman’s leg-spin, Yorkshire were 105-2 after 26 overs.

By now it was clear that this was a good field, despite being used during The Hundred.

After lunch, Luxton swept Hollman off the floor and James Wharton caught the same bowler for sixes over mid-wicket.

But Middlesex, now playing with the old Kookaburra ball, were now a lot stronger than they had been at the start.

And that paid off as Hollman – bowling from the Howard Stand End – managed to remove James Wharton and Will Luxton from the match as the duo failed to make the most of their starts.

Wharton was caught at slip for 40 when he attempted to hit a ball too close to him before Luxton was pulled to short midwicket as two wickets fell inside six overs, leaving Yorkshire 185-4 in the 52nd over. They had shared 67 for the third wicket.

Yorkshire’s third half-century partnership came through Bairstow and captain Jonny Tattersall until tea, when the score was 240-4.

Bairstow was proactive rather than destructive – fewer than half his runs were in boundaries – although he did hit a pull shot from Brookes for six runs to the Western Terrace side of this pitch.

But the stand – 57 – was broken in the first over of the evening when Tattersall swept Leus du Plooy’s left-armer and was caught for 26 at slip running behind the wicketkeeper – 242-5 in the 65th.

Bairstow reached his fifty from 63 balls, sharing Yorkshire’s fourth half-century partnership of the innings, this time with partner Hill, who also made the sixth wicket.

Hill played a part in the six-hit act by grounding Du Plooy with a single, but Bairstow began to show signs of his fighting spirit.

He cut Hollman hard for four to square and hit him over the head from mid-off for another boundary in the same over, the 74th, taking the score to 283-5.

Like Bairstow, who took out Roland-Jones for his second six, Hill – 58 not out – has struggled with the bat of late. But he looked excellent as they shared an unbroken 130.

He reached his 50th run from 77 balls at the end of the day, before Bairstow reached the three-figure score from 122 balls and took a bow to the home side’s dressing room to celebrate.

Report provided by ECB Reporters’ Network.