Yorkshire promotion hopes in balance as Derbyshire hold on

At 11.20am on the final day, former Yorkshire left-arm spinner David Wainwright turned a delivery from Ryan Sidebottom to deep fine-leg.

Steve Patterson moved quickly to the ball and, as Wainwright raced back for a risky second run, threw it promptly and precisely into the gloves of wicketkeeper Andrew Hodd, who whipped off the bails to beat the batsman’s full-length dive.

Wainwright was run out for 50, having completed his half-century with the first run taken, and Derbyshire were reeling on 
260-9, 11 runs short of avoiding the follow-on.

As Wainwright walked off with sorrowful stride, having made a present of his wicket to his former county, the significance of the incident did not need stating.

Leaders Derbyshire, having resumed on 233-8, had gifted Yorkshire a chance to win the game, a chance that seemed entirely dependent on them forcing the follow-on.

The day had begun discouragingly for the home team; despite sultry conditions and thick cloud cover, they had opened with a double spin attack of Adil Rashid and Azeem Rafiq, a move that backfired as Wainwright and Tim Groenewald crashed 25 in six overs before the experiment was abandoned.

Wainwright’s departure in the next over, after Yorkshire opted to take the second new ball, was followed by that of Groenewald, caught behind off Tim Bresnan as Derbyshire failed by three runs to prevent Yorkshire making them bat again.

But although the home side huffed and puffed in the visitors’ second innings, which ended on 190-5 before the teams shook hands at 5.23pm, they were unable to force the win as Wainwright’s blushes were spared.

Usman Khawaja, the 25-year-old Australian, was chiefly responsible for getting Derbyshire out of jail, top-scoring with an unbeaten 110 as they survived 72 overs in their second innings.

Solid in defence and silky in attack, Khawaja withstood everything Yorkshire could throw at him, striking 14 fours and two sixes in his 202-ball stay.

The left-hander was well-supported by Wes Durston (39), with whom he added 90 for the third wicket in 31 overs and also by Ross Whiteley (17), with whom he shared 66 for the sixth wicket.

When it was decreed that there was no chance of a result with 14 overs left, with Khawaja at the death was a certain David Wainwright, who attempted no more risky runs to finish unbeaten on one.

The draw left Yorkshire third in Division Two, 10 points off the second and final promotion place and 21 points behind Derbyshire, who have a game in hand.

Yorkshire have three matches left, at home to Gloucestershire and Glamorgan and away to Essex, and must probably win two to secure promotion.

Hampshire’s successful pursuit of 326 against Northamptonshire at Southampton was a bad result for Yorkshire as the south-coast county strengthened their grip on second place.

However, Hampshire have still to visit Derbyshire in the final round of fixtures, with the promotion race set to go to the wire.

Yorkshire captain Andrew Gale said he could not have asked for more from his bowlers on Saturday.

“The lads tried really hard and we did well to enforce the follow-on,” he said.

“We had them two-down for spit and it would have been nice to have backed that up and had them maybe 50-5, but the new ball is always key on the pitches here and what’s frustrating is that we lost 104 overs in the game due to bad weather.

“Right from the beginning of the season I said that to win games at Headingley you need four days of good weather.

“Unfortunately, the pitches here don’t allow you to win games inside three days.”

After Yorkshire enforced the follow-on after 25 minutes’ play, they made instant inroads into the Derbyshire second innings.

Bresnan, who had been short of his best on day three as Derbyshire recovered from 42-4 to 225-6 in reply to Yorkshire’s first innings 420, was soon into his stride from the Kirkstall Lane end, while Ryan Sidebottom was impressive from the Rugby Stand end.

It took Bresnan only 10 minutes to make the breakthrough, the England man striking with his eighth ball when he had Derbyshire captain Wayne Madsen caught at third slip by Rafiq.

Bresnan pounced again in his third over when Matt Lineker shouldered arms to a ball that sent his off-stump cart-wheeling, but Khawaja and Durston dug-in to lift the total to 48-2 at lunch.

After the break, Durston had a life on 20 when he flicked Bresnan firmly off his legs to mid-wicket, where Rashid spilled the opportunity diving to his left.

It was a difficult chance but one which, having got both hands to the ball, Rashid would probably have expected to take.

To rub salt into Rashid’s wounds, Durston promptly lofted him for four over long-on as the leg-spinner wheeled away in vain from the Rugby Stand end.

Khawaja went to his half-century from 91 balls with eight fours as Derbyshire displayed their resilient qualities.

But Yorkshire were only ever a couple of wickets away from causing a wobble, and they did just that when Durston’s departure was swiftly followed by that of Dan Redfern, caught behind by Hodd off Sidebottom.

At that stage, Derbyshire were 111-4, 41 behind, and there were still 47.1 overs left in the day. But although Yorkshire defeated the outside edge on a number of occasions, and although Rafiq had Whiteley caught at cover with the score on 177, Derbyshire held out for a result that left them with one foot firmly in the First Division.