DAVID WILLEY picked up two of six wickets to fall for 66 after tea as Yorkshire responded strongly to an opening day century from Surrey’s Steven Davies at Headingley today.

The England limited overs seamer finished with 3-55 from 20 overs to help stymie the visitors’ progress as they were bowled out for 330 during an enthralling start to this Specsavers County Championship match.

Things could have been a lot worse for Yorkshire, who closed on 15-0 from two overs, following century partnerships for the third and fifth wickets.

On the way to 117 off 163 balls, Davies shared 122 for the third wicket with Kumar Sangakkara (73) and 103 for the fifth with Ben Foakes (45).

At 160-2 in the 45th over and 264-4 in the 72nd, Surrey were on course for a far bigger total in good batting conditions.

And Yorkshire’s performance echoed that of previous weeks.

They failed to build pressure for large parts and dropped three early catches.

The end result, however, leaves them confident of claiming a first victory from their fourth Division One fixture.

“There were patches in the game where we didn't bowl particularly well and got hit round the park a bit,” said Willey. “Then we bowled well in spells and got our rewards.

“In the end, they've got just over 300, so we're happy.

“There were a couple of soft dismissals in there, and we got some wickets in clusters. The way it was going at lunch and at tea, we are definitely happy with that come the end of play.”

There was a bit of help early on with the new ball, but opener Arun Harinath was dropped three times on the way to 12.

Yorkshire struck twice in each of the first two sessions, and there was a definite opening at 161-4 in the 46th over following wickets for Liam Plunkett and Jack Brooks in successive overs.

Sangakkara was well caught high at first slip by Alex Lees as the Sri Lankan tried to guide a Plunkett short ball to the third-man fence.

Joe Root then completed a stunning one-hander at third slip diving to his right as Jason Roy fell to Brooks, who also claimed three-for.

After tea, Patterson ended the Davies and Foakes alliance in the 72nd over when the former chipped to short cover.

He struck again in the 74th to get Foakes caught at first slip to leave the score 273-6.

Surrey went beyond 300 immediately Brooks took the second new ball in the 81st over, but its arrival paid dividends for the hosts.

Willey trapped James Burke and Gareth Batty lbw with successive balls in the 85th over before Brooks bowled Tom Curran for 32 in the 90th - 321-9.

Brooks then wrapped up the innings by getting Ravi Rampaul caught behind off a top-edge before Adam Lyth hit the first ball of the Yorkshire reply for four.

Prior to his White Rose debut at Nottinghamshire last week, Willey had not played a first-class fixture since the end of last May when he was a Northants player.

“I think I could have bowled a fraction fuller,” he added. “One-day lengths are a little bit shorter, and I've done that for the last 10 months. I need to bowl a foot to two-foot fuller.”