Yorkshire Denied In Fifth Draw
Yorkshire’s wait for a first win of the County Championship season continued after an entertaining fifth draw of the campaign at the County Ground against Northamptonshire.
The Vertu Motors-backed side made the best start to the game, with Adam Lyth leading the way with the bat on day one as he hit his third century of the season.
After sharing a partnership of 86 for the first wicket with Finlay Bean, Lyth then put on 116 with Shan Masood for the second before he was finally dismissed for 109 – shortly before Masood himself was removed for 60.
Northamptonshire fought back however and from 229-3 when Masood was dismissed, Yorkshire slipped to 312-7 by the end of the opening day.
Having been bowled out for 362 on the second morning, Yorkshire started strongly with the ball and at one stage had the home side on 116-4 after Karun Nair and George Bartlett were dismissed in quick succession.
However, Luke Proctor produced a captain’s innings to carry Northants to 301 all out before Dom Leech – put in to open as night watchman – was dismissed just before the close when Yorkshire started their second innings.
The third day of action saw the visitors recover from the early loss of Bean for a duck to reach 156-5 and take a lead of 217, with Masood on 82 not out going into the final day with the chance to try and force a result and secure a first win of the season.
The Yorkshire skipper would hit 131 not out before declaring on 264-6 to set Northants an unlikely 326 to win but Ricardo Vasconcelos went on the attack from the outset – helping his side race to 165-2 in little more than 30 overs.
A series of quick wickets however turned the game back towards Yorkshire and would leave Northants holding on by the end, eventually reaching 250-8 to force a draw – marking the fifth time this season that the visitors had been unable to secure the win.
A 14 point haul leaves Yorkshire seventh in the table.
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