10:56am Saturday 24th July 2010
YORKSHIRE were denied a valuable LV=County Championship victory at Essex despite a thrilling run chase at Chelmsford.
Led by Jacques Rudolph, who hit a magnificent century, the Tykes fell just short of a mammoth victory target of 369 to see their lead at the top of the table cut to just six points after this round of fixtures.
It was tough on the White Rose, who confidently went about trying to reach what would have been the fifth highest total they had ever chased down in first-class cricket, but in the end their total was 36 runs short after an encapsulating finish at the County Ground.
“It was a great game of cricket but it is just a pity we could not quite come away with a win,” said Rudolph, who made 102.
“I have not made that many centuries recently so I really enjoyed myself. It is one of my more mature innings.”
For long periods of the final day it had looked like his efforts would mean a Tykes triumph, after an attacking declaration from Essex’s captain James Foster had opened the game up.
Rudolph helped put on 79 for the first wicket with Adam Lyth, before moving the score on to 199 for two with captain Andrew Gale after Anthony McGrath had come and gone for only 11.
However, when Gale fell for 41 and the Rudolph was ousted four overs later, to Tom Westley and Tim Phillips respectively, hopes of a Yorkshire victory looked bleak.
It brought Jonathan Bairstow and Gerard Brophy to the crease and soon the total was down to 131 from the last 20 overs.
Unfortunately Essex, who qualified for the quarter-finals of the Twenty20, then showed what a capable limited overs team they are once more to leak only 30 runs from the final ten overs.
In addition, Brophy, who made 28, and Bairstow, who struck a stunning 62, were brilliantly caught by Matt Walker and Grant Flower respectively, and Tim Bresnan was also stumped for one.
Essex v Yorkshire At Chelmsford
Overnight: Yorkshire 324 (A Lyth 75, A U Rashid 52 no; T J Phillips4-94). Essex 399 (R S Bopara 142, J S Foster 61; A U Rashid 5-87) and 229-3(R S Bopara 102, A N Cook 90 no).
Essex Second Innings
A N Cook c Bairstow b Bresnan ..........102
M J Walker b A U Rashid .....................38
J S Foster not out ...............................22
G W Flower c Best b Patterson ............. 2
Extras (b6 lb10 nb4 pens 0) ........20
Total 6 wkts dec (67.5 overs)..293
Fall: 1-0 2-15 3-214 4-264 5-282 6-293
Did Not Bat: T J Phillips, C J C Wright, M A Chambers, A Carter.
Bowling: Bresnan 18-2-44-2. Patterson 7.5- 2-30-2. A U Rashid 16-2-76-2. Best 9-0-45- 0. Rudolph 5-1-26-0. Hannon-Dalby 6-0-35- 0. McGrath 6-0-21-0.
Yorkshire Second Innings
A Lyth st Foster b Phillips .....................42
J A Rudolph b Phillips ...................106
A McGrath c & b Carter ......................16
A W Gale b Westley .............................41
J M Bairstow c G W Flower b Wright .....62
G L Brophy c Walker b Wright ...............28
A U Rashid not out ..............................19
T T Bresnan st Foster b G W Flower ..... 1
S A Patterson not out .......................... 0
Extras (b1 lb11 w2 nb4 pens 0) ..18
Total 7 wkts (82.4 overs).....333
Fall: 1-79 2-106 3-199 4-218 5-310 6-315 7-319
Did Not Bat: T L Best, O J Hannon-Dalby.
Total Bonus Pts: Essex 7 Yorkshire 5
Bowling: Chambers 13-1-59-0. Wright 7-1- 42-2. Phillips 28.4-3-116-2. Carter 15-1-55- 1. Westley 12-1-30-1. G W Flower 7-0-19-1.
Essex (10pts) drew with Yorkshire (8pts).
© Copyright 2001-2012 Newsquest Media Group
http://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/trade_directory/