The County Championship title rivals Yorkshire and Durham had to settle for a draw in a match which, at one stage, looked almost certain to produce a positive result.
Set an enticing 357 to win in a minimum of 81 overs Yorkshire, the county champions, built a solid platform before losing the impetus that went with three late afternoon wickets. Given Lancashire also drew with Warwickshire in a similar finish – the visitors were set 312 in a minimum of 72 – it is ‘as you were’ at the top of Division One. The Roses rivals are joint leaders on 99 points after seven matches.
Despite the draw this match certainly did not fall into the ‘stalemate’ category. Both sides had periods of dominance and were sniffing victory.
Such is the confidence in the Yorkshire camp they will see this as an opportunity missed having bowled their hosts out for 172 on day one before securing a 151-run lead. They have been severely depleted through injuries and England call-ups, with the bowlers Ryan Sidebottom, Jack Brooks and Matthew Fisher unavailable through injury and Liam Plunkett, David Willey and Adil Rashid on England one-day duty. With this in mind a draw is far from a disaster.
Given what happened on days one and two, however, Durham will likely be happier with the draw. But they were also given hope of more through the opener Keaton Jennings, who completed a maiden double century before lunch on Thursday. Jennings, the South African-born left-hander who qualified for England during the most recent pre-season, made his way to 221 not out off 416 balls.
When Durham declared on 507 for eight it was their highest ever second-innings score. Jennings’s haul of 738 runs from seven matches, including four 100-plus scores, leaves him as the highest run-scorer in either division.
Scoreboard pressure was always going to be Yorkshire’s biggest concern rather than the state of the pitch. Although low and slow, it had few demons in it. The openers, Adam Lyth and Alex Lees, confidently built a platform through a 112-run stand inside 33 overs either side of lunch, and runs were coming freely.
That changed when the Irish seamer Barry McCarthy struck twice in two balls. He removed Lyth for 50, caught at slip by Ben Stokes, who shared 12th man duties with Mark Wood in place of fractured-thumb victim Paul Collingwood, off a delivery which the batsman initially thought was a bump ball. He then got the New Zealand captain Kane Williamson lbw for a golden duck before seeing a confident shout for caught behind down the leg side against Gary Ballance turned down on his hat-trick ball.
Ballance went on to hit 18 off his next six balls, but things slowed down significantly from then on before he was caught behind off Graham Onions for 32 in the closing stages of the afternoon. Yorkshire reached tea at 155 for three, still needing 202 more from a minimum of 37 overs. Andrew Gale and Lees, for 74, fell shortly afterwards, caught behind and chopped on, to Ryan Pringle’s off-spinners to give Durham a glimmer of hope with 24 overs remaining. Tim Bresnan and Jack Leaning alleviated White Rose jitters with an unbroken sixth-wicket stand of 59. Durham’s eight-point haul to Yorkshire’s 11 leaves them four points adrift of the leaders in third.
The highlight of the final day at Old Trafford was a maiden century for the 19-year-old opener Haseeb Hameed. Many believe it is only matter of time before he plays for England and he completed 103 in 295 balls in typically watchful fashion.
Liam Livingstone also contributed 106 off 118 to Lancashire’s second-innings 266 for eight declared. Warwickshire finished on 195 for two from 72 overs thanks to fifties for Ian Bell and Jonathan Trott.
In Division Two, Worcestershire batted out day four to draw at Derby.
