WARWICKSHIRE head coach Ian Westwood praised a ‘team effort’ after the Bears’ five-wicket County Championship win over Yorkshire at Headingley.
They completed a level-headed chase of 185 on day three to secure their second Championship win this season.
Warwickshire started the day on 15 without loss, and openers Rob Yates and Alex Davies contributed 41 and 31 respectively.
But they reached lunch with a 20-point haul not yet certain at 109 for four, needing 76 more.
However, the Bears were able to move into the top three places in the Division One table midway through the afternoon tea – thanks to first-class debutant Zen Malik, who finished 49 not out off 73 balls, including a pulled six off George Hill to win it.
Westwood told the club’s official website: “That was a great win. On a pitch that offered something for the bowlers all game, it was always going be fairly low-scoring and exciting.
“It was a good game to watch, quite tense at times, so to go head to head and come out on top was really good.
“We knew on that pitch that we had to be ruthless when we got a chance to get a partnership going because it wasn’t easy batting all the way through the game. And it didn’t really get any easier. There was still good balls in there at the end.
“What we did really well in the chase was that we never lost wickets in clumps. We always managed to get at least a 20-partnership after losing a wicket. That helped steady the ship.
“I just said in the changing room, ‘I thought that was a real team effort’.
“You could point to a number of great performances. Beau’s 85 in the first innings, I thought was exceptional. To score runs on there, you needed a bit of luck and a high level of skill.
“Again, for Zen to walk off there nearly 50 not out on his debut, shaking hands and getting us home, is brilliant for his confidence and shows he’s got the temperament to play at this level.”
While Warwickshire won their second game in four at the start of this season, Yorkshire have now lost two from four and are in the top flight’s bottom three.
The hosts will be mightily frustrated at the fact they were unable to capitalise on the one-game availability of England’s batting duo Harry Brook and Joe Root. The latter’s second-innings 90 was their best score in four innings.
However, consistently, they just didn’t bowl well enough on a grassy pitch offering significant assistance for the bowlers.
Overseas Australian debutant Jordan Buckingham, for example, went at more than seven runs an over across the two innings on his debut, striking only twice.
And the Bears were deserved winners, backing up last month’s one-wicket success at Durham.
While they didn’t dominate this fixture, they were on top for much of it and were able to capitalise on winning an important toss and bowling Yorkshire out for 205 on day one.
Their new-ball seamer, Ethan Bamber, excelled with match figures of nine for 107. Australian Test all-rounder Beau Webster should also be credited for an excellent 85 in the first innings, which secured what proved to be a decisive 48-run lead for the visitors.
Captain Davies started positively this morning. Of the seven boundaries he hit in his 31, three of them came off one Hill over. Two were clipped through the leg-side, and the other handsomely driven through the covers.
However, he was bowled through the gate by a beauty of an in-swinger from Ben Coad, losing his off and middle stumps in the process as the score fell to 45 for one in the 13th over – the day’s 10th.
Buckingham then had Hamza Shaikh caught behind at 60 for two, immediately before a 10-minute rain delay, and Yates and Dan Mousley fell to New Zealand quick Ben Sears and Jordan Thompson respectively to boost Yorkshire before lunch.
Left-handed Yates had been more reserved than his opening partner Davies, though by no means becalmed.
He pulled Buckingham for four through midwicket and clipped Thompson through the same region for a couple of boundaries in as many overs as the score reached 85 for two, 100 more needed for the visitors.
There would have been some nerves in the away dressing room when Yates was undone by extra bounce from Sears and edged a looping catch to Root at first slip before, at the start of the morning’s final over, Thompson uprooted Mousley’s off-stump – 109 for four in the 30th over.
Though those nerves would not have been around for long, given how settled 27-year-old Malik looked in a fifth-wicket partnership of 59 with Ed Barnard.
Right-hander Malik was strong on both sides of the wicket, and when he beautifully drove Thompson for four straight of mid-on to move into the thirties, Warwickshire were 136 for four needing 49 more.
All-rounder Barnard, meanwhile, had an excellent game with three wickets in each innings, 41 with the bat first time around and then 37 to help get them over the line.
With the Bears closing in, he even nonchalantly ramped Sears for six over third but edged the same bowler behind with 17 needed. It was a purely consolatory strike.
