Battling Yorkshire can scent chance of title glory

Yorkshire's five-wicket win at Trent Bridge yesterday, allied to Somerset's nine-wicket victory against Lancashire at Taunton, means there is now a three-way shoot-out for the coveted prize.

Nottinghamshire have 205 points, Somerset 203 and Yorkshire 198, but Andrew Gale's men have potentially the easiest fixture as they look to secure the club's first title since 2001.

Nottinghamshire, whose morale is sure to be sapped by this defeat, travel to Old Trafford to face Lancashire while Somerset play Durham at Chester-le-Street.

Yorkshire entertain relegation-haunted Kent at Headingley Carnegie and although their fate is not entirely in their own hands, it is a game you would expect them to win given decent weather and, just as importantly, a decent pitch.

Yorkshire, however, will almost certainly need a victory to come out on top. Although they could theoretically prevail with a draw, Nottinghamshire would eclipse them with just four points and Somerset with just seven.

The mathematics are complex but the reality seems clear: Yorkshire require one more good performance and must then hope neither Nottinghamshire nor Somerset get a positive result.

That Gale's men even have a chance of claiming the crown is testimony to their efforts throughout the summer and their resilience yesterday, when the game could possibly have gone pear-shaped.

When Gale was bowled by seamer Andre Adams, Yorkshire were 95-4 in pursuit of 209 and had lost those four wickets in the space of five overs. Nottinghamshire sensed a chance to upset the applecart, but, not for the first time this summer, Jonathan Bairstow played a cool hand to help Yorkshire home.

Bairstow (63 not out) and Gerard Brophy (41) shared a fifth-wicket stand of 97 in 15 overs to settle the issue.

After conceding a first-innings deficit of 205, Nottinghamshire deserved credit for a valiant fight back after they were dismissed for 59 on the opening day.

But after starting day three on 357-6, a lead of 152, they were not able to set a big enough target to mount a revival that would have given them one hand on the trophy and killed Yorkshire's challenge.

Gale, whose career-best 151 not out during Yorkshire's innings was the outstanding performance of the match, does not believe his side are title favourites.

"Notts are still top of the league and they're still favourites in my book," said Gale, who has still to preside over a Championship defeat.

"Somerset are up there as well but, hopefully, we can turn over Kent and see where that takes us. The way I see it, everything we do from now on is a bonus. We were many people's favourites to go down at the start of the year and there's no pressure on us as far as I'm concerned."

One man who appears to thrive on pressure is the redoubtable Bairstow.

The 20-year-old scored his runs from just 51 balls and struck 12 boundaries in a classy display.

"It must be the third time Jonny's done that for us this year under pressure," said Gale. "In fact, he seems to thrive on it.

"He plays better under pressure than when we're playing on flat pitches! It was a phenomenal effort by him and 'Brophs'."

Yorkshire needed only 60 minutes at the start of the day to take the last four Nottinghamshire wickets, Steve Patterson having Darren Pattinson lbw and bowling Steven Mullaney with a fine ball that disturbed the off bail.

Ajmal Shahzad bowled Nottinghamshire captain Chris Read for 47 and rounded off the innings by bowling Luke Fletcher as he made room to try to hit through the offside.

Adam Lyth and Jacques Rudolph gave Yorkshire a flying start in pursuit of a nuisance target, raising a fifty stand in just 52 balls.

Rudolph was caught in the gully with the score on 70, after which a brief rain delay seemed to spice up the pitch.

Pattinson had Anthony McGrath caught behind from a lifter that took him on the thumb before having Lyth caught at first slip for 45.

Brophy's innings ended with a slip catch off Adams, but Bairstow and Adil Rashid closed out the win.

DISPLAY OF THE DAY

Jonathan Bairstow

After Yorkshire suffered a mini wobble, he guided them home with 63 not out.

Nottinghamshire v Yorkshire

Trent Bridge: Yorkshire (21pts) beat Nottinghamshire (3) by 5 wkts.

Overnight: Nottinghamshire 59 and 357-6, Yorkshire 264.

Nottinghamshire First Innings

A D Hales c A U Rashid b Shahzad 3

P J Franks c Bairstow b Shahzad 0

M A Wagh c Rudolph b Shahzad 22

A C Voges b Ashraf 8

S R Patel c Brophy b Ashraf 0

A D Brown lbw b Hannon-Dalby 16

C M W Read lbw b Hannon-Dalby 0

S J Mullaney lbw b Hannon-Dalby 0

A R Adams c Lyth b Shahzad 3

L J Fletcher not out 6

D J Pattinson c Brophy b Hannon-Dalby 0

Extras lb1 1

Total (33.2 overs) 59

Fall: 1-1 2-4 3-18 4-18 5-41 6-47 7-47 8-49 9-52.

Bowling: Shahzad 11 4 21 4; Patterson 7 2 8 0; Ashraf 6 4 11 2; Hannon-Dalby 9.2 4 18 4.

Yorkshire First Innings

A Lyth c Voges b Adams 19

J A Rudolph c A D Brown b Adams 10

A McGrath c Adams b Franks 10

A W Gale not out 151

J M Bairstow lbw b Adams 36

G L Brophy b Adams 5

A U Rashid c Fletcher b S R Patel 11

A Shahzad c Read b Franks 7

S A Patterson c Read b Franks 0

O J Hannon-Dalby lbw b Adams 0

Ashraf c S R Patel b Adams 0

Extras lb8 w1 nb6 15

Total (62.1 overs) 264

Fall: 1-30 2-31 3-60 4-171 5-195 6-228

7-251 8-251 9-260.

Bowling: Fletcher 8 0 39 0; Pattinson 10 2 58 0; Adams 20.1 3 82 6; Franks 15 3 58 3; S R Patel 9 1 19 1.

Nottinghamshire Second Innings

A D Hales c Brophy b Ashraf 24

P J Franks c Rudolph b A U Rashid 79

M A Wagh c Sub b A U Rashid 90

A C Voges c Brophy b Hannon-Dalby 72

S R Patel c Bairstow b Shahzad 4

A D Brown c Brophy b Shahzad 4

C M W Read b Shahzad 47

D J Pattinson lbw b Patterson 27

S J Mullaney b Patterson 15

A R Adams not out 0

L J Fletcher b Shahzad 8

Extras b16 lb27 43

Total (102 overs) 413

Fall: 1-56 2-187 3-278 4-283 5-291 6-329 7-373 8-405 9-405.

Total Bonus Pts: Nottinghamshire 3 Yorkshire 5.

Bowling: Shahzad 29 6 100 4; Patterson 21 2 83 2; Hannon-Dalby 18 2 71 1; Ashraf 14 1 50 1; A U Rashid 17 4 48 2; McGrath 3 0 18 0.

Yorkshire Second Innings

A Lyth c Hales b Pattinson 45

J A Rudolph c A D Brown b Pattinson 29

A McGrath c Read b Pattinson 4

A W Gale b Adams 5

J M Bairstow not out 63

G L Brophy c Hales b Adams 41

A U Rashid not out 9

Extras b1 lb10 nb2 13

Total 5 wkts (42.3 overs) 209

Fall: 1-70 2-78 3-91 4-95 5-192.

Bowling: Fletcher 5 0 23 0; Pattinson 13 2 67 3; Adams 16 0 77 2; Franks 3 0 23 0; S R Patel 5.3 2 8 0.

Umpires: M A Gough and R T Robinson.