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David Wainwright and Adil Rashid respond to rallying call
"THERE are no second chances now. It is time to show everyone that Yorkshire deserves to be in the top tier. Come on, boys, this is your time to be genuine heroes."
So proclaimed Yorkshire County Cricket Club's official website yesterday morning, a battle cry to raise chuckles from Canterbury to Chester-le-Street and all points between.
It rather summed up a club prone to operating in a different world to other sporting organisations, but one can only assume Adil Rashid and David Wainwright logged on before walking out to bat as they transformed the complexion of this match and, with it, Yorkshire's hopes of avoiding relegation.
In need not only of heroes but a minor miracle, Rashid and Wainwright rode to the rescue with a ninth-wicket partnership of 140.
Both made career-best scores (Rashid 111 and Wainwright 104 not out, the latter a maiden century in first-class cricket) to help Yorkshire to a final total of 400-9 declared – riches that could never have been envisaged when the team slumped to 80-6 on the opening evening.
The upshot was that Yorkshire gained maximum batting points when it seemed none would be forthcoming and that they have given themselves an excellent chance of avoiding the drop.
Sussex slipped to 25-3 in the nine overs before stumps and, with Kent struggling against Durham at Canterbury, Yorkshire could hardly have enjoyed a more favourable day.
If Yorkshire do escape, they will owe a huge debt of gratitude to Rashid and Wainwright, who made batting look so simple that Yorkshire's top-order must have looked on with shame. Although conditions were appreciably better for run-scoring than they had been on the first day, with the sun beating down from a cobalt sky, that in no way detracted from both players' efforts as Yorkshire turned the contest on its head.
Prior to this fixture, Rashid had scored 405 runs in 15 County Championship games at 19.28 with just two half-centuries – as opposed to 790 runs last summer at 46.47.
It is his bowling this season that has really caught the eye (54 wickets at 31.79 and counting), but what a time the leg-spinner chose to score his first century of the campaign and only his second in first-class cricket – an innings full of crisply-timed drives and ingenious placement.
Wainwright's performance was even more remarkable. The
23-year-old left-arm spinner, batting at No 10, sailed past his previous career-best of 62 as Sussex reached a stage where they simply could not believe what was happening to them.
Wainwright's innings was compact and beautifully organised, and he reached his century at a slightly quicker pace than Rashid – 166 balls to 174.
"I got a text from my dad the previous night saying that I would score a century," said Wainwright. "I just humoured him. This was a day I will remember for the rest of my life."
Victory would have been far from Yorkshire's thoughts when Rashid and Tim Bresnan strode out to bat at the start of the day with the scoreboard reading 84-6.
Had Yorkshire been forced to negotiate another half-hour the previous evening, when they lost three wickets in three overs just before stumps, they might have been rolled over for not much more than 100.
But Rashid and Bresnan settled immediately yesterday and had lifted the total to 160 by the time the latter fell after 75 minutes' play, caught at first slip by Chris Adams off the off-spinner Ollie Rayner.
The only other wicket to fall during the morning was that of Richard Pyrah, caught at point off Robin Martin-Jenkins.
Yorkshire still had work to do from 178-8 to gain even a single batting point, but Rashid and Wainwright could have been George Hirst and Wilfred Rhodes as they skilfully manipulated the Sussex attack. The score was 318 when Rashid was finally defeated by a ball from Mohammad Sami that trapped him lbw.
Wainwright and Matthew Hoggard then rubbed salt into Sussex's wounds by adding an unbroken 82 for the 10th-wicket before Anthony McGrath declared the innings closed – an unthinkable prospect the previous evening.
Then Hoggard got to work with the ball, removing Michael Yardy and Carl Hopkinson lbw either side of Rashid sending back Rayner in the same manner.
"An intriguing day's cricket," declared the match day announcer as the teams left the field.
It was an understatement of Herculean proportions.
DISPLAY OF THE DAY
David Wainwright
Scored 104 from 169 balls with 10 fours and a six to help Yorkshire turn the tables on an extraordinary second day of their County Championship match at Hove.Sussex v Yorkshire
Hove: Sussex (3pts), who won toss, trail Yorkshire (5pts) by 375 with 7 first inns wkts standing.
Yorkshire First Innings
A W Gale c Prior b Mohammad Sami 31
A Lyth b Lewry 0
A McGrath c Rayner b Martin-Jenkins 3
J A Rudolph b Mohammad Sami 23
G L Brophy b Mohammad Sami 12
T T Bresnan c Adams b Rayner 39
S A Patterson lbw b Lewry 0
A U Rashid lbw b Mohammad Sami 111
R M Pyrah c Hopkinson b Martin-Jenkins 7
D J Wainwright not out 104
M J Hoggard not out 28
Extras b13 lb16 w1 nb12 42
Total 9 wkts dec (122.5 overs) 400
Fall: 1-19 2-37 3-45 4-74 5-79 6-80 7-160 8-178 9-318.
Bowling: Lewry 29 3 98 2; Mohammad Sami 35 10 117 4; Martin-Jenkins 27 7 54 2; Wright 5 0 29 0; Rayner 18 3 43 1; Nash 6 0 16 0; Yardy 2.5 0 14 0.
Sussex First Innings
M H Yardy lbw b Hoggard 6
C D Nash not out 15
O P Rayner lbw b A U Rashid 0
C D Hopkinson lbw b Hoggard 2
M W Goodwin not out 1
Extras lb1 1
Total 3 wkts (9 overs) 25
Fall: 1-15 2-16 3-23.
To Bat: L J Wright, M J Prior, C J Adams, R S C Martin-Jenkins, Mohammad Sami, J D Lewry.
Bowling: Bresnan 3 1 7 0; Hoggard 4 0 9 2; A U Rashid 2 0 8 1.
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Weather for Yorkshire
Saturday 11 February 2012
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