Durham v Yorkshire: Gale stays grounded as battle for title intensifies

At 11.48 on the final day, Yorkshire's Adil Rashid struck a delivery from Durham's Chris Rushworth through the mid-on region for a single.

It gave the visitors a four-wicket victory and lifted them to second in the County Championship.

With three games left, Yorkshire are six points behind Nottinghamshire, who have a match in hand, as the season approaches a gripping climax.

All that was left to be determined yesterday was how quickly Yorkshire would wrap up the points.

They resumed on 245-4 in pursuit of 299 after Jacques Rudolph's classy century the previous day.

Thanks to some positive stroke-play from Andrew Gale, who led from the front with a stylish, unbeaten 70, they were on their way down the A1 faster than you could say "Geoffrey Boycott".

On the evidence of this result, there is no reason why Yorkshire cannot end their eight-year drought without a major trophy – be it in the Championship and/or the Clydesdale Bank 40 League in which they are also going great guns.

Gale, however, is rooted in reality.

The 26-year-old, who has led the side magnificently in his first season at the helm, has warned his players not to get carried away.

"Obviously we're on a good run and riding high in the table, but I've warned the lads against complacency," stressed Gale, who has yet to preside over a Championship defeat.

"You've got to do that with young players and it's important we stay focused for the vital run-in. We've got three games left in the four-day competition and there's everything to play for.

"But when we turn up for our next game, against Hampshire at Scarborough next week, it's 0-0 again and we've got to turn in another good performance."

Following Nottinghamshire's crushing innings victory over Warwickshire on Tuesday, it was imperative Yorkshire won this game to stay in touch.

Increasingly, everything looks likely to come down to a shoot-out between Yorkshire and Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge early next month, although Somerset are very much in the hunt and would leapfrog Yorkshire by two points with victory in their current fixture against Essex at Colchester.

"We needed this victory," admitted Gale.

"With Notts having just beaten Warwickshire, this was a really big result for us.

"To come to Durham, the reigning champions, and win was a fantastic effort by the boys.

"There's still areas we can improve – we dropped a few catches and didn't get everything right by any means – but we're definitely moving in the right direction."

Yorkshire have exceeded expectations this summer and Gale reiterated his belief one of the key reasons is that everyone in the team is pulling together.

"I knew we had the individuals and the skill levels going into the season, it was just a case of trying to give the lads confidence and point them in the right direction," he added.

"I think over the last few years we've had players pulling away from the team goal, but now everyone is fighting for each other and fighting for success.

"I thought there were a number of good contributions from the lads in this match.

"Anthony McGrath's first innings hundred was probably the best knock I've seen him play, while Jacques Rudolph scored a brilliant second innings century."

On the best day of the match weather-wise, with the sun streaming down from a cobalt sky, Yorkshire were in no mood to stagger over the finish line.

Gale cut the fourth ball of the morning from Mitchell Claydon over first slip for four – the only semblance of a false stroke – to show he was prepared to go after anything remotely hittable as he approached the task in one-day fashion.

After starting the day on 36, Gale went to his half-century from 48 balls with 10 boundaries and used his feet well to dance down the track and strike Claydon through the covers.

Steve Patterson, the nightwatchman, fell with the total on 273, lbw to Steve Harmison after resisting for 40 minutes all told.

Harmison had worked him over with a plethora of short balls before pinning him with a rare delivery in Patterson's half.

Gerard Brophy perished for a seventh-ball duck when he steered Harmison to Ben Stokes in the gully, but there was no late sting in the tail. Rashid (15) kept his captain company as Yorkshire sealed a well-deserved win.

Durham v Yorkshire

Emirates Durham ICG: Yorkshire (21pts) beat Durham (4pts) by 4 wkts

Overnight: Durham 213 and 340. Yorkshire 255 and 245-4.

Durham First Innings

M J Di Venuto not out 117

M D Stoneman c Brophy b Patterson 1

G J Muchall lbw b Shahzad 12

D M Benkenstein b Shahzad 0

I D Blackwell c Bairstow b Bresnan 6

B A Stokes lbw b Shahzad 0

P Mustard c Brophy b Pyrah 53

L E Plunkett b Shahzad 0

M E Claydon b Shahzad 4

C Rushworth c Bairstow b Pyrah 0

S J Harmison run out 4

Extras b2 lb13 w1 16

Total (57.2 overs) 213

Fall: 1-11 2-32 3-32 4-53 5-54 6-169

7-172 8-176 9-183.

Bowling: Bresnan 16 4 58 1; Patterson 13.2 5 44 1; Shahzad 16 2 51 5; Pyrah 11 2 40 2; McGrath 1 0 5 0.

Yorkshire First Innings

A Lyth c Plunkett b Claydon 6

J A Rudolph b Claydon 7

T T Bresnan c Plunkett b S J Harmison 25

A McGrath not out 124

A W Gale lbw b S J Harmison 0

J M Bairstow lbw b Plunkett 18

G L Brophy b Blackwell 4

A U Rashid c Mustard b S J Harmison 17

R M Pyrah lbw b Plunkett 8

A Shahzad c Mustard b Rushworth 15

S A Patterson c Benkenstein b Plunkett 7

Extras b4 lb10 nb10 24

Total (72 overs) 255

Fall: 1-17 2-26 3-52 4-52 5-79 6-84

7-116 8-143 9-209.

Did Not Bat: O J Hannon-Dalby.

Bowling: S J Harmison 23 3 81 3; Claydon 8 0 37 2; Rushworth 11 4 50 1; Blackwell 13 5 17 1; Plunkett 17 4 56 3.

Durham Second Innings

M D Stoneman c Brophy b Patterson 78

M J Di Venuto lbw b Hannon-Dalby 18

G J Muchall b Shahzad 31

D M Benkenstein c Brophy b Patterson 74

I D Blackwell c Bairstow b Hannon-Dalby 13

B A Stokes c Bairstow b Patterson 8

P Mustard c Rudolph b Hannon-Dalby 2

L E Plunkett c Pyrah b Hannon-Dalby 30

M E Claydon lbw b Shahzad 29

C Rushworth b Patterson 28

S J Harmison not out 11

Extras b4 lb14 18

Total (92.3 overs) 340

Fall: 1-50 2-134 3-134 4-157 5-174

6-177 7-255 8-298 9-304.

Bowling: Shahzad 26 6 81 2; Patterson 25.3 4 87 4; Pyrah 11 2 53 0; Hannon-Dalby 21 3 73 4; A U Rashid 9 2 28 0.

Yorkshire Second Innings

A Lyth c Di Venuto b Stokes 48

J A Rudolph b Claydon 100

A McGrath c Stokes b Claydon 29

A W Gale not out 70

J M Bairstow c Mustard b Claydon 13

S A Patterson lbw b S J Harmison 3

G L Brophy c Stokes b S J Harmison 0

A U Rashid not out 15

Extras b1 lb10 w2 nb8 21

Total 6 wkts (72.5 overs) 299

Fall: 1-113 2-181 3-204 4-228 5-273 6-275

Bowling: S J Harmison 18 3 56 2; Claydon 18 5 74 3; Blackwell 5 0 24 0; Plunkett 11 1 57 0; Rushworth 13.5 2 51 0; Stokes 7 0 26 1.

Umpires: N G C Cowley and B Dudleston.