Durham extended their unbeaten run to five games in the LV=County Championship after a battling display against Yorkshire.
The hosts were denied the chance to open up a 16 point lead at the top of the table when Durham showed gritty determination in batting out the final day at Headingley.
Mark Stoneman (86), Michael Richardson (95) and Phil Mustard (57 not out) all made major contributions as Durham reached 323 for eight when they led by 128 with only 11 overs remaining.
Durham, 59 for one overnight, began the final day still trailing by 136 runs and Yorkshire’s hopes rose as the first ball of the second over from Jack Brooks was allowed to thump into his pads by Scott Borthwick who offered no stroke to a straight one.
Although qualms had already been expressed by Durham skipper Paul Collingwood over the unpredictable state of the pitch, Stoneman and Richardson coped more than adequately against both pace and spin, Stoneman completing his 50 off 109 deliveries before pulling Adil Rashid in front of mid-wicket for four to raise three figures for his side.
Boundaries on either side of the wicket for Stoneman off consecutive balls from Tim Bresnan boosted the score but there was a fortunate moment for Richardson when he drove Steven Patterson into the covers and Bresnan flung himself at the ball but could not hold on.
With skipper Andrew Gale regularly ringing the changes, Adam Lyth came on for another short spell of off-spin and his fourth ball trapped Stoneman lbw for a fluent 86 which contained ten boundaries and came off 165 deliveries. The opener’s departure ended a tenacious 86-run stand in 25 overs with Richardson who survived another very sharp chance as his thick edge off Patterson ricocheted off Jonny Bairstow’s gloves as the wicket-keeper dived far to his left.
Richardson and Gordon Muchall took Durham to lunch on a comfortable 163 for three, only for Yorkshire’s hopes to rise again in the first over upon the resumption, Rashid’s well pitched up googly to Muchall gaining an lbw decision.
Durham were 166 for four and still not quite out of the woods but now Collingwood, unbeaten on 64 first time around, joined Richardson in another determined stand during which Richardson moved to his 50 off 99 balls with five fours.
They slowly wiped off the deficit and Richardson took the visitors into the black by stroking Rashid to the extra cover boundary but at 210 and a lead of 15, the leg-spinner got sufficient turn and bounce for Collingwood to edge to Bairstow.
The new ball was taken at 228 for five in 81 overs and it brought about Richardson’s downfall just five runs short of a century. Brooks breached his defences to hit middle and leg after the batsman had received 165 deliveries and struck 11 fours. His 95 followed his 148 against Yorkshire at Chester-le-Street in early May.
Soon after tea, at 261 for six, John Hastings survived a fierce return catch to Rashid but failed to make the most of it because he flicked one off his glove from Brooks and was caught behind.
Brooks further revived Yorkshire’s situation by having Phil Coughlin lbw with a yorker – 95 ahead with 24 overs remaining – but Mustard continued to hold things together until all realistic chances had evaporated for Yorkshire. His half century came off 73 balls with ten boundaries and he was still there with 57 when Yorkshire finally threw in the towel.
STUMPS, DAY THREE. Yorkshire 426 v Durham 231 (Collingwood 64*, Jennings 56) & 59-1 (f/o). Durham trail Yorkshire by 136 runs with nine second innings wickets remaining.
Points – Yorkshire 8, Durham 4.
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Durham will have plenty of work to do on the final day at Headingley in order to extend their unbeaten run to five games in the LV=County Championship.
Adil Rashid (4-73) enjoyed his best bowling figures at Headingley in four years to help Yorkshire dominate proceedings, as Durham were forced to follow on trailing by 195 runs and they closed the third day on 59 for one, still 136 adrift.
Durham resumed their first innings in the morning on 50 for one and with plenty of bowling ahead of them if they were to go on and win the match Yorkshire were eager for early wickets. One came quickly when Ryan Sidebottom managed late movement off a perfect length to Scott Borthwick who edged into Jonny Bairstow’s gloves.
Opener Keaton Jennings (56) settled in solidly, however, and was well supported by Michael Richardson, the former taking two off-side boundaries in an over off Jack Brooks before greeting the arrival of Rashid into the attack with a swept four.
Jennings advanced with some clean drives to his half-century off 122 balls with eight fours but having reached 56 he pushed at the accurate and miserly Stephen Patterson and Adam Lyth scooped up the catch at second slip. In the next over, Gordon Muchall was lbw on the back foot to Tim Bresnan and it rapidly became Yorkshire’s morning as Richardson chipped back the last ball before lunch to Rashid, Durham having slid to 119 for five with three wickets toppling for nine runs.
Soon after the interval, Yorkshire had two chances on 131 to make life easier for themselves but were unable to take either of them. Phil Mustard edged Brooks to Alex Lees at third slip but be could not grasp a sharp chance and Collingwood would have been run out off the next ball if Sidebottom had scored a direct hit on the stumps.
On at least two occasions, Sidebottom pleaded in vain to umpire Richard Illingworth for lbw decisions against Mustard but it was Rashid who went on to break the troublesome 51 stand by having Mustard snapped up at short leg by Jack Leaning for 17.
Rashid was looking more confident than for some time and after John Hastings had looped a catch to Lyth at slip he made Paul Coughlin pay for on-driving him for six to get off the mark by enticing him to hit straight into the hands of Brooks at deep mid-on.
Collingwood remained a threat to Yorkshire’s ambitions, completing his 50 off 89 balls with five fours, and when he received a beamer from Brooks the bowler was given an official warning.
Patterson took the new ball for the second delivery after tea and he shared it for an over with Rashid before pinning Mark Wood lbw. Sidebottom replaced the spinner and his first ball had Chris Rushworth lbw, Collingwood remaining unbeaten on a defiant 64 from 106 balls with six fours.
Both Sidebottom and Patterson were the models of consistency throughout the innings, Patterson’s two wickets costing him 27 runs off 20 overs and Sidebottom being similarly rewarded from 14.2 overs with six maidens.
But the happiest man was probably Rashid whose figures were his best at Headingley since picking up five for 137 against Warwickshire almost exactly four years ago and his best in any match since taking five for 78 against Middlesex at Lord’s last summer.
All out for 231 and following on with 26 overs of the day still remaining, Durham were given a mainly untroubled start by Mark Stoneman and Jennings and at 33 for none in 14 overs Rashid was brought on from the football end.
But he was given only two overs by skipper, Andrew Gale, who then turned to the off-spin of Lyth and it proved to be an inspired move because he clean bowled Jennings with his fifth delivery and Durham were 39 for one, Borthwick helping Stoneman to see it through to the close without further mishap.
STUMPS, DAY TWO. Yorkshire 426 all out (Wood 5-87) v Durham 50-1. Durham trail Yorkshire by 376 runs with nine first innings wickets remaining.
Points – Yorkshire 5, Durham 3.
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Durham had moved steadily to 50 for one off 20.4 overs in reply to Yorkshire’s first innings score of 426 when heavy rain washed out play on the second day of the LV=County Championship match at Headingley.
The county champions require a further 227 to avoid the follow-on after Mark Wood (5-87) had earlier completed his second five-wicket haul of the campaign.
Yorkshire began the second day on 367 for seven with 14 overs left in which to score the 33 they required for a fifth batting bonus point – and they got there with just one ball to spare and their last pair at the wicket.
Tim Bresnan and Steve Patterson, the overnight batsmen, were not together for long because the third ball of the day’s second over from John Hastings was edged by Bresnan into the safe hands at second slip of Scott Borthwick who completed his third consecutive catch.
There was sufficient lift in some of the short pitched deliveries to worry tail-end batsmen and Patterson received a snorter from Mark Wood which he deflected to Paul Collingwood at first slip but the Durham captain put the chance down.
Patterson was less fortunate, however, when he gloved a sharply rising ball from Wood to Phil Mustard, and at 380 for nine Yorkshire were still a long way off that final batting point.
Ryan Sidebottom and last-man Jack Brooks had no intention of jacking it in and Brooks played Wood to the mid-wicket boundary before he was struck on the hand by the bowler while taking evasive action.
Everything was still in the balance at 388 for nine in 106 overs at which stage Collingwood called on Borthwick for a solitary over but he brought his leg-spinner back for the 110th over when Yorkshire wanted just one more run to reach the 400 mark. Brooks failed to score off his first four deliveries but then swept his fifth to the boundary to draw loud applause from the home fans.
A further 26 valuable runs were added by the tenth-wicket pair before Sidebottom swept hard at Borthwick and was caught on the mid-wicket boundary by Paul Coughlin for 25, leaving Brooks unbeaten on 27 and the stand worth 46.
The general feeling at the close of the first day had been that Durham’s bowlers had bowled too short early on to take full advantage of the conditions, but when it was Yorkshire’s turn Sidebottom and Brooks could not part Stoneman and Keaton Jennings in the nine overs up to lunch, although Sidebottom struck Stoneman painfully on the ankle, the appeal for lbw being rejected.
Durham resumed after the interval on 20 without loss and although Patterson was the pick of the attack, narrowly missing the edge of the bat on several occasions, twice in one over he was guided to the third man boundary by Jennings.
Yorkshire had to wait until the 16th over to break the stand when Bresnan found the perfect length and Stoneman, on 21, was unable to avoid contact as the ball went through to Jonny Bairstow.
Borthwick came in at 39 for one and soon afterwards appeared to give a sharp low chance to Adam Lyth at second slip off Bresnan but the ball did not stick.
In the same over, the players came off for light rain at 49 for one and play resumed after a 40-minute break but only a further five deliveries were possible and one run added before they were off again, the rain this time turning so heavy that play was abandoned at 4.30pm with around 53 overs lost.
STUMPS, DAY ONE. Yorkshire 367-7 (Lyth 143, Lees 108, Wood 4-76) v Durham. Yorkshire lead Durham by 367 runs with three first innings wickets remaining.
Points – Yorkshire 4, Durham 2.
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Durham staged a superb late fightback after openers Adam Lyth and Alex Lees had helped Yorkshire dominate the first two sessions on day one.
Paul Collingwood put Yorkshire in to bat in the LV=County Championship First Division match at Headingley – and then looked on helplessly as Lyth and Lees flogged his Durham attack to all parts in an opening stand of 270 in 71.3 overs.
The partnership was ended when Lees was dismissed by Scott Borthwick (1-49) for 108 with Lyth departing soon afterwards for 143 and second-in-the-table Yorkshire closed on 367 for seven after Mark Wood hit back strongly for the visitors with four wickets in 11 balls at a cost of four runs.
Lyth and Lees’ stand was a Yorkshire record for the first wicket against Durham, beating the 146 which Lyth helped Joe Sayers put on at the same venue four years ago, and when Lyth had reached 126 it gave him 1,000 first class runs for the season.
There was some early movement off the seam for new-ball bowlers, Chris Rushworth (2-65) and John Hastings, but neither was able to exploit it to the full and Lyth and Lees went for their shots from the start with Lyth taking three boundaries in an over off Hastings.
Lees joined the spree by cover-driving consecutive deliveries from Hastings to the boundary and the introduction of Phil Coughlin to the attack saw his first ball struck for four by Lyth.
The century stand arrived from 119 balls and Lyth was first to the 50 mark, hitting Coughlin for his tenth boundary, and Lees’ half-century arrived with his seventh four which he followed up with an on-driven six against Borthwick.
The batsmen were so much in command that Yorkshire went in to lunch on 145 in 32 overs and they remained very much in charge after the interval although Lyth pulled Hastings just short of Keaton Jennings running in from the square leg boundary and Lees survived a concerted appeal for a catch behind off Coughlin but umpire Richard Kettleborough was unmoved.
The 200 was raised in the 53rd over and Lyth, whose pace rarely slackened, cantered to his century from 183 balls with 19 fours.
Lyth was 107 at tea and Lyth 96 and in the opening over of the evening session Lyth drove Wood for three boundaries, Lees going on to flick Collingwood off his hips to the rope to complete his century from 181 balls with 12 fours and a six.
Then Borthwick achieved the long-awaited breakthrough by pinning Lees lbw moving across his stumps and Wood’s sudden intervention left Yorkshire reeling on 291 for five. Lyth and skipper Andrew Gale were both lbw on the back foot, and Jonny Bairstow was bowled second ball, shouldering arms.
Jack Leaning was caught behind to give Wood his fourth wicket and Aaron Finch briefly stopped the slide with some aggressive shots until Rushworth in consecutive overs had them taken by Borthwick at second slip.
Steve Patterson came in at 344 for seven and he and Tim Bresnan saw their side to a fourth batting bonus point but Yorkshire ended the day not quite as strongly placed as their spectators had expected.