Essex v Yorkshire: Battling Yorkshire are denied by loss of three quick wickets

Yorkshire's propensity to go to the wire in four-day cricket was evident again yesterday on a captivating final day at Chelmsford that had everything but a victor.

Set a target of 369 from 83 overs, Andrew Gale's men had looked to be firmly on course to pull off what would have been the third-highest run chase in the county's history to complete the double over Essex.

Needing 59 to win off a little under nine overs and with Jonathan Bairstow taking runs off the home attack seemingly at will, it seemed such a foregone conclusion that several locals could be seen making their way out of the County Ground.

Sixteen balls later, however, and the picture had changed dramatically courtesy of Essex taking three quick wickets.

Now it was the home side who were scenting victory as fielders crowded around the bat in the hope of forcing a win.

Three weeks on from the thrilling win over Warwickshire that had the Headingley crowd spellbound, it meant another heart-stopping finale for Yorkshire's supporters.

This time, however, there were to be no jubilant scenes come the game's climax with the feeling instead being one of relief that Adil Rashid and Steve Patterson had saved the draw.

In the end, the league leaders finished 36 runs short of their target and it is to their immense credit that they came so close.

The size of the task was perhaps best illustrated by the fact Yorkshire had only twice successfully chased a higher total in their history.

Both came against Leicestershire in 2005 when scores of 406-4 and 400-4 at Grace Road and Scarborough respectively were enough to clinch dramatic victories.

There was to be no similarly happy ending yesterday, though not for the want of trying on the part of Gale's men.

Going into the final day, there could be little doubt which side was on top with a century in each innings from Ravi Bopari having helped Essex build up a commanding 304-run lead.

Their grip on the game was tightened further by Alastair Cook completing his first century for the county since 2007, allowing captain James Foster to declare 45 minutes into the morning session.

Yorkshire's run chase then began at breakneck speed thanks to some flamboyant strokeplay by Rudolph, who set the tone by smacking four consecutive deliveries from Chris Wright to the boundary rope in the sixth over.

Adam Lyth was clearly in no mood to hang around, either, and had reached 42 when he paid the price for straying momentarily out of his crease as Foster whipped off the bails to give Tim Phillips his fifth wicket of the game.

Anthony McGrath followed by offering a simple return catch to Andy Carter eight overs after lunch before a patient 93-run third-wicket partnership between Rudolph and Gale swung the initiative back Yorkshire's way.

It was not always pretty with the pair going 20 overs either side of tea without hitting a boundary.

But they were effective in keeping the scoreboard ticking over with some quick running between the wickets.

Gale was bowled trying to sweep Tom Westley but Rudolph duly went on to reach a deserved century before being deceived by a turning delivery from Phillips.

That brought Bairstow and Gerard Brophy together with Yorkshire still requiring 151 runs off 23 overs.

Neither was fazed, though, as some forceful hitting combined with incising running reduced Foster to setting defensive fields with up to six men ringing the boundary.

Bairstow played the situation brilliantly, bringing up his 50 from 53 balls with a sweep off Grant Flower to backward square to move Yorkshire to within 66 runs of victory with 10 overs remaining.

However, just as it seemed the visitors were on the verge of wrapping up a fifth win of the season, Chris Wright made a fortuitous breakthrough when Brophy drilled a full toss into the grateful hands of Walker.

The initiative was still with the White Rose at this stage only for Wright to claim a second key scalp in his next over when Bairstow was caught by Grant Flower.

Tim Bresnan's rash attempt to hit Flower over the top in the 78th over then ended any hopes of a win for Yorkshire, who were content to play out the remainder of the game and claim a result that, on the balance of play, was just about fair.

Display of the day

Jacques Rudolph

n The South African looked to have played Yorkshire into a winning position with a fine 106 from 152 deliveries that included 10 fours.