Ottis Gibson and Ben Coad were happy chaps after Yorkshire’s landslide innings victory over Derbyshire, inside three days at Chesterfield.
Yorkshire won by an innings and 204 runs during the third afternoon.
They bowled Derbyshire out for 76 in the first innings before replying with 451-9 declared. Then, either side of lunch, they whipped them out again for 171, sealing a 24-point success.
Coach Gibson was delighted to see a host of impressive contributions.
With the ball, Vishwa Fernando claimed nine wickets in the match – five in the first innings and four more today. Coad stood out today with a brilliant 6-30, while Jordan Thompson struck four times in the first innings.
With the bat, James Wharton excelled with a brilliant 188 – his maiden first-class ton. Today, Jonny Tattersall moved from 93 to 107 to notch his first century of the season.
Yorkshire are now breathing down the necks of the top two in the division, leaders Sussex and second-placed Middlesex.
With five games to go, promotion is very much on.
“I’m delighted,” said Gibson. “The way we played this weeks shows the spirit in the team is good and the skills are very high.
“I think we got lucky with the toss. They won it and batted, and we were quite surprised by that given the overhead conditions and the pitch had a tinge of green it.
“We took that stroke of luck. We still had to go out and bowl well in it, and we did. We bowled really well in the first innings, as we did in the second.
“The hallmark of the win was James Wharton’s breakout innings in first-class cricket. Hopefully that’s the springboard for him to go on and show the qualities we see in him every day with his batting in the nets. To deliver it in the middle was fantastic for him.”
On Fernando, who played his third and final game of the season this week, Gibson continued: “He’s has been brilliant for us. We were desperately trying to get him in before that Sussex game (at Hove in May). Had we had him for that, I reckon we could have won that game with him bowling the way he’s bowled since he’s been here.
“He’s played three games and taken wickets in every game. He’s been fantastic.”
And Gibson is hopeful it’s just a case of good-bye for now.
He said: “Vishwa goes off now because we don’t have any red ball cricket until the end of August.
“He will be with Sri Lanka at the end of August (for England tour). Then they have another series a week or so after they leave here. We’re not going to have him for the rest of the year, but we’ll certainly look to get him back next year if we can.
“Hopefully Matthew Fisher will be fit for the back end of the season, and we’re also still having a look around.
“We might be able to get another overseas in.
“We’re trying to get promoted, so we’ll do whatever we can to try and get some quality in that can help with that.”
Gibson had plenty of praise for Coad and Tattersall as well.
He went on: “We know what Coady can do, especially in conditions like this. He’s so important for us. Often he ends up bowling too many overs. But that’s the way he is. If he sees we’re in a spot of bother or something, he wants to carry on.
“He’s very important for us, and he bowled beautifully today. He pitched the ball up.
“He’s a lesson for a lot of bowlers in our squad. I was sitting with Dom Leech today and saying, ‘Look at the length he bowls – he never misses his length’. He’s always asking questions of the batsmen.
“Tatts has been playing very well all year, but he’s not had a major score.
“It wasn’t a surprise to see him go and get a hundred.
“He’s been pushing me to bat at six, but I’ve said, ‘I need you at seven because I know you can hold things together’. As it turned out, that’s exactly what he did.”
Before Yorkshire’s next Championship match, a blockbuster clash with Sussex at Scarborough from August 22, they complete their Vitality Blast North Group campaign and play out the Metro Bank One-Day Cup campaign as well.
Gibson added: “Everybody is trying to get those two places, and it’s never easy.
“We have to bowl well and bat well. We also have to catch well, and those are the little important things we’ve been doing in the last two weeks especially.
“We’re really excited about the rest of the season in four-day cricket.”
This was Coad’s first match since late May following a back injury, and he said: “It was an extremely good performance from the lads.
“They obviously had a great performance last week, and you could see the confidence bringing it into this game.
“I couldn’t be happier for the lads. It was a tricky pitch to bat on, but the way Wharts and Tatts have gone on this pitch was outstanding. But, from all the lads – last week and this week, it’s been unbelievable. We just need to keep that going.
“When the August and September games come around, hopefully we can keep that going.”
Yorkshire return to Vitality Blast action on Friday when they welcome Birmingham Bears to Headingley (6.30pm).
Gibson revealed that Jonny Bairstow is unavailable because he is taking a break from cricket after the T20 World Cup and missing out on Test selection, while they are waiting for an answer from the ECB regarding Adil Rashid’s availability for the latter stages of the Blast.