Yorkshire CCC dig deep at the Riverside in bid to deny Durham
IT was a bright and breezy Easter Day, the early cloud cover lifting to give a lovely sunny scene for spectators, who watched in much more pleasant conditions than they had in the opening half of the match.
After resuming on 264-1 in their first innings, trailing Yorkshire by 43 runs, Durham were dismissed for 427 beneath the deep blue skies of early afternoon, the visitors reaching 132-4 at stumps to take a lead of 12 into day four.
Some rain is forecast to arrive on Monday, hardly an unknown occurrence in the month of April, rendering it impossible to predict how events will unfold.
Suffice to say that it has been the sort of hard-fought battle that is usually the case when these sides meet, northern rivals who give no quarter and expect none in return, scrapping it out in the gaze of Lumley Castle.
Given their unpromising position at the start of day three, with Alex Lees, their former opener, on 148 and Emilio Gay on 105, their second-wicket stand worth 242, Yorkshire could be pleased with much of their Sunday’s work.
That stand had risen to 279 when Lees fell after 40 minutes, miscuing a pull off Matty Revis towards long leg, where Ben Sears, running in, judged the catch.
It was a record second-wicket partnership for Durham in first-class cricket, shading the 274 between Mark Stoneman and Scott Borthwick at this ground against Middlesex in 2014. Lees fashioned 172 from 240 balls with 28 fours and a six, his highest score in the Championship for almost two years.
In Revis’s next over, the young all-rounder running in hard from the Finchale end, Colin Ackermann was squared up slightly and edged behind for an eight-ball duck. The second new-ball then accounted for Ollie Robinson, trapped lbw on the crease by Jack White as he pushed forward with something of a unsure bat.
At the other end, Gay went to his 150 from 235 balls with 17 fours and was then dropped on the same score by Jordan Thompson at mid-wicket off George Hill, diving to his left. Hill did not have to wait long to get his man, Gay bowled three balls later for 152 by a fine delivery that turned him around and knocked back off stump.
From 301-1 when Lees was suckered, Durham slipped to 364-6 when Sears took his first wicket for Yorkshire with the fourth delivery of his 14th over. Will Rhodes, the former Yorkshire all-rounder, got himself into a tangle and the New Zealander’s lbw shout was upheld.
Durham lunched on 386-6 and lost their last four wickets in the first 50 minutes of the afternoon session. White beat Ben Raine’s defensive stroke and splayed his stumps; Graham Clark was caught low down at first slip by Hill off Thompson; Paul Coughlin drove at Thompson and was caught behind, and Brendon Doggett was caught behind pushing forward at White, the most successful bowler with 3-76.
Trailing by 120 with 59 overs left in the day, Yorkshire set about the task of proceeding towards parity. Adam Lyth ticked off a proud milestone when he brought up 15,000 first-class runs on reaching 14, but he lost his opening partner, Fin Bean, with the score on 25, lbw to seamer Raine, the ball perhaps going on to miss leg stump.
Yorkshire fell to 39-2 when, for the second time in the match, James Wharton picked out deep square-leg, this time off Matthew Potts, whom he pulled to substitute fielder George Drissell, the batsman slumping over his bat in disbelief before trudging off slowly back to the pavilion.
Dawid Malan arrived to inject some calm, looking thoroughly unruffled in the evening sunshine, presenting the broadest of bats to an attack that was hampered by Coughlin’s inability to bowl due to an abdominal strain.
Consequently, that attack had something of a limited feel, with Ackermann’s spin of minimal danger, placing heavy responsibility on the shoulders of Raine, Potts and Doggett, who plugged away valiantly.
It was hardly riveting fare for spectators as the shadows lengthened, with the run-rate hovering around two an over, but it was exactly what was needed from Yorkshire’s point of view as Lyth and Malan defended stoutly. They brought up their 50 stand for the third wicket in 118 balls, Malan contributing the bulk of the runs as Durham fiddled about with funky fields.
Lyth grafted three hours in reaching his fifty, raised from 128 balls with five fours, but after moving to 53 from 140 deliveries he was plumb lbw to Raine, leaving Yorkshire 114-3, still six runs adrift, his stand with Malan curtailed at 75 from 170 deliveries.
Malan also perished with the close in sight, bowled through the gate by the persevering Potts, having resisted gamely for just over two hours.
Jonny Bairstow and George Hill lived to fight another day as Yorkshire hope, perhaps, for some help from the heavens.