Yorkshire v Hampshire: Bresnan heroics not enough as Yorkshire victory bid is denied

Having had Hampshire on the rack on the final day, Yorkshire were forced to settle for a draw that left them seventh in the First Division table – one place above the relegation zone.

Set 289 to win from 59 overs, the visitors were 7-4 inside 10 overs, then 54-6 inside 23.

One would have got long odds on Hampshire’s last four wickets surviving the final 36 overs – but survive them they did as Yorkshire missed a big chance to claim their second Championship victory of the summer.

Sean Ervine, Dominic Cork, Kabir Ali and Danny Briggs were the Hampshire heroes, guiding their side to 153-8 by the time stumps were drawn at 6.30pm.

Ervine (55) and Cork (22) added 73 for the seventh wicket in a vital stand, eking up 75 minutes in the process before Cork went lbw to Rashid with 16 overs left.

Ervine looked to have tossed it away when he inexplicably carved Rashid to mid-off some 13 overs out, but the ninth-wicket pair of Kabir and Briggs withstood everything the home side could throw at them in a nail-biting climax on an overcast evening.

Hindsight, of course, is a wonderful thing.

Yorkshire declared six overs after lunch on 165-8, having scored 103-5 in 35.4 overs since the start of the day.

The way things turned out, they could have declared earlier.

But they should have won anyway after their start with the ball.

Martyn Moxon, Yorkshire’s director of professional cricket, was left to rue a lost opportunity.

“We’re bitterly disappointed,” he admitted.

“We had a chance to finish them off but weren’t able to take it, so it kind of feels like a defeat in all honesty.

“But you’ve got to give Hampshire tremendous credit.

“They made it tough for us and fought to the end.”

Yorkshire had high hopes of victory at the start of day four.

They were 62-3 and held a lead of 185 against a team without a win in the Championship this season.

But the home side got off to a shaky start when they lost their two overnight batsmen, Andrew Gale and Jonny Bairstow, inside the first three overs.

Kabir Ali angled one away from Gale, who edged to second slip, before bowling Bairstow as he tried to drive.

When Adil Rashid was caught at point trying to turn a Cork delivery to leg, Yorkshire were 87-6 and the innings was floundering.

They would have been 100-7 and only 223 in front had Liam Dawson not spilled Tim Bresnan at second slip off David Griffiths.

Hampshire’s best chance of victory disappeared with that drop, the visitors’ early impetus having subsided by the time Dawson finally caught Bresnan in the same position off Kabir with the total on 127.

Kabir picked up his fourth wicket when he also had Ajmal Shahzad caught at second slip by Dawson, which left Yorkshire 133-8.

Gerard Brophy, struck two painful blows on the right thumb while batting, scrapped to make a gutsy, unbeaten 37, while Ryan Sidebottom contributed an undefeated 19 before the declaration.

Left to score at 4.9 runs an over against an attack including Sidebottom, Shahzad and Tim Bresnan, a tall order for Hampshire became gigantic when they plunged to 7-4.

Bresnan struck twice in three balls to have openers Dawson lbw and Jimmy Adams caught at short-leg by Joe Root, the fielder parrying up the ball and pouching the rebound.

Sidebottom got in on the act when he had Johann Myburgh lbw, the former England man so confident of obtaining the decision he did not even bother to look at umpire Neil Mallender for confirmation.

Bresnan capped a deadly opening spell of 7-3-7-3 from the Kirkstall Lane end when he had Neil McKenzie lbw for a duck as Hampshire lost 4-0 in 14 balls.

The visitors fell to 35-5 when Steve Patterson had James Vince well caught low at second slip by Rashid, the same bowler disturbing the stumps of Nic Pothas with a grubber that left Hampshire at 54-6 in the 23rd over.

A Yorkshire victory looked certain from there but while his beloved Stoke City were losing 1-0 to Manchester City in the FA Cup final, Cork was championing the cause of another underdog to more successful effect.

The old warhorse passed 10,000 first-class runs during the course of his innings and, with Ervine resolute before his rush of blood, Yorkshire were unable to back up their rousing start. Their cause was not helped when Bresnan had to leave the action towards the end with a tight calf muscle, the England man having deserved to finish on the winning side.

“It would have been a big victory for us,” added Moxon. “It’s a very important month with four Championship games in quick succession but, unfortunately, it just wasn’t to be.