As Yorkshire went down by 112 runs, leaving them seventh in Division One, just above the relegation zone, Lyth scored a valiant 132 in a display that promised much for the future.

From the moment he arrived at the crease on the third evening with Yorkshire 2-1 in pursuit of 403, to the moment he perished yesterday moments before tea, Lyth belied his tender years with a performance brimming with steel and self-confidence.

Up until his dismissal at 3.36pm, Yorkshire still had an outside chance of winning the game after hoisting themselves from 190-6 to 283-6 as Lyth and Tim Bresnan added 93.

But when Lyth fell lbw to Andre Adams and Bresnan lbw to Mark Ealham in successive balls, Yorkshire's hopes finally bit the dust and Nottinghamshire breathed a sigh of relief.

Ealham wrapped things up by removing Deon Kruis and Matthew Hoggard just after the break to claim 7-59, his best figures for 12 years, and victory returned Nottinghamshire to the top of the Championship.

Lyth's elation at reaching three figures was understandably tempered by the outcome of the match – Yorkshire's fifth defeat in six matches in all competitions.

"I was pleased to get my first hundred, but we didn't bat that well as a team," said Lyth, who hails from Whitby and was making only his eighth first-class appearance.

"I thought we were going to win at one stage and we fought really hard, but we weren't quite able to get over the line.

"From a personal point of view it was an important hundred and a step towards cementing my place in the side.

"I was a little bit nervous on 99, but Tim Bresnan kept me cool at the other end and, hopefully, I can keep my good form going," he said.

Lyth's elation was palpable when he turned a single round the corner off spinner Samit Patel to bring up his century from 218 balls with 14 fours.

The assuredness of his stroke play was striking as he adopted a positive approach in the muggy conditions.

With better support from his colleagues, Lyth could well have inspired Yorkshire to only their third successful run-chase of 400 or more.

As it was, the visitors would have been thoroughly embarrassed but for his courageous exhibition and that of Bresnan, who offered staunch support.

Yorkshire's goose already looked cooked when they went into day four on 107-4. That became 139-5 when Gerard Brophy had his off-stump uprooted by Ealham before Lyth and Adil Rashid added 51.

Rashid, who took 30 balls to get off the mark, fell just before lunch when he padded up to off-spinner Graeme Swann, who posed plenty of problems from the Pavilion End.

The complexion of the match then underwent an unexpected shift as Lyth and Bresnan bestrode the afternoon.

So acute became Nottinghamshire's twitchiness that Mick Newell, their director of cricket, ferried out the drinks with the score on 266-6 and with them, no doubt, a few words of encouragement.

But Lyth's departure prised open the door and triggered the end for a Yorkshire side who have lost their way in recent times.

The Azeem Rafiq affair, which saw the club eliminated from the Twenty20 Cup due to their failure to register the teenage off-spinner, has clearly taken a toll, although Martyn Moxon refused to blame that debacle on the team's Championship slump.

"Obviously the lads were down about the Twenty20 situation and they're bound to feel it a bit with the finals day taking place this weekend, but we've moved," he said.

"We've just paid the price for one or two poor sessions of play and we need to show more strength of character.

"We've been in matches at various times and it's not as though we're not turning up. We're just not managing to convert good positions and this game has been a case in point.

"We did well to bowl Nottinghamshire out for just over 200, but then failed with the bat and lost our way.

"We need to stop the bad periods of play and achieve greater consistency in terms of our batting."

Yorkshire's next test of character is a Championship match against bottom-placed Surrey at Headingley Carnegie starting on Wednesday.

Already it looks like a contest neither club can afford to lose.


DISPLAY OF THE DAY

Mark Ealham

His canny seamers were the difference as the former England all-rounder, who turns 39 next month, returned match figures of 10-76 to send Yorkshire crashing to defeat.