Nottinghamshire’s slim hopes of catching Durham at the top of the LV County Championship first division remain intact after they gained the upper hand against Yorkshire at Trent Bridge yesterday.
In this tight, low-scoring game, a sixth-wicket stand of 78 between Bilal Shafayat and Chris Read took Nottinghamshire within reach of Yorkshire’s first-innings score of 256, then Paul Franks made a brisk unbeaten 46 from 54 balls to nudge the home side firmly in front.
Building on the strong lead provided by Scott Newman, whose 79 is the highest score of the match so far, Shafayat made a measured 66. He reached only his second half-century of the season from 103 balls, but fell when he looked to work Matthew Hoggard to leg, only to lose his middle stump.
Read has been rather more prolific, averaging 84 at the start of this game. He added momentum to the innings with 42 from 60 balls, but the ball after hitting David Wainwright back over his head for four, Read advanced again and was stumped when the left-arm spinner pushed one wider outside off stump.
A pitch that started a startling shade of green has lost a little colour in the sunshine. There is still occasional life for the seam bowlers, but Yorkshire have not bowled consistently enough to reap full dividends from such a surface.
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Newman made the most of some generous offerings, hitting 13 fours before he pulled a long hop from Hoggard to square leg. In the next over, Ali Brown was bowled by Wainwright’s arm ball and Nottinghamshire were perilously placed at 153 for five.
But once Shafayat and Read had begun the recovery, Franks struck the ball as cleanly as anyone has done on this pitch, pulling and driving with authority. With Mark Ealham coming in to join him at No 9, there is plenty of depth to Nottinghamshire’s batting.
Nottinghamshire began this game 29 points behind Durham and, having played a game more, they must win this match and then at the Riverside next week to have any hope of winning the championship.
At the other end of the table, Yorkshire need a win from this fixture to boost their chances of avoiding relegation, so must take some quick wickets this morning to keep them in the game. It is all to play for.
Yorkshire: First Innings (overnight 220-8)
D J Wainwright c Brown b Franks 37
M J Hoggard not out 12
G J Kruis c Read b Ealham 1
Extras (b 4, lb 16, w 5, nb 4) 29
Total (111.3 overs) 256
Fall of wickets: 1-72, 2-73, 3-100, 4-132, 5-132, 6-174, 7-192, 8-199, 9-255.
Bowling: Shreck 33-10-57-3; Pattinson 29-6-74-2; Franks 20-7-52-3; Ealham 22.3-11-38-2; Patel 7-1-15-0.
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Nottinghamshire: First Innings
S A Newman c Gale b Hoggard 79
A D Hales c and b Pyrah 35
M A Wagh c Brophy b Pyrah 0
S R Patel c Bairstow b Shahzad 7
B M Shafayat b Hoggard 66
A D Brown b Wainwright 0
*†C M W Read st Brophy b Wainwright 42
P J Franks not out 46
M A Ealham not out 10
Extras (b 4, lb 8, w 2, nb 2) 16
Total (7 wkts, 78 overs) 301
D J Pattinson and C E Shreck to bat.
Fall of wickets: 1-76, 2-78, 3-101, 4-152, 5-153, 6-231, 7-279.
Bowling: Hoggard 17-5-60-2; Shahzad 19-1-76-1; Kruis 13-0-51-0; Pyrah 17-3-53-2; Wainwright 12-4-49-2.
Umpires: M A Gough and P Willey.