A Disappointing Draw Foils The Tykes

After an afternoon of high drama in Derbyshire where the hosts shamefully capitulated against a seemingly unstoppable Durham, Yorkshire departed Hove with that sinking feeling that their County Championship hopes are hanging by the proverbial thread. Unable to force a win against Sussex in what promised to be a thrilling late afternoon run chase, the white rose are almost thirty points in arrears of Durham and nearly needing snookers. 

The damp squib on the south coast began with Andrew Gale asking the home team to bat first. This was a bold decision, but it appeared vindicated as Yorkshire (and Ryan Sidebottom in particular) proceeded to run through much of Sussex's batting order. However, Yorkshire's ongoing inability to polish off a tail was exposed yet again as the hosts rallied to produce almost three hundred when it previously seemed that two hundred was a realistic outcome. The Tykes need to learn from Darren Gough and Craig White about bowling fast and straight at tailenders. Frankly speaking, although five Yorkshire bowlers took wickets, their best bowler was Adil Rashid, who ended up with no victims in spite of being uncharacteristically economical. Personally I hold economical bowlers in higher esteem than those who get hit all around the ground but who get lucky with two or three dismissals.

In reply, Gale, Jaques, and Plunkett each smashed a quick twenty, but tragically these were all-too-brief cameos in an otherwise exhibition of patient run-scoring. Adam Lyth, who crucially failed twice against Durham was determined to redeem himself here, but regrettably he was dismissed again in the nineties, after having done all the hard work. Meanwhile, Kane Williamson was equally determined to record his first ton in county cricket after two near-misses at Scarborough, but the Kiwi batsman is suffering from the affliction whereby he is dismissed at the start of a new day, unable to build upon an impressive overnight total. To add to our woes, the trio of Bairstow, Ballance, and Rashid failed to make any impact and our tail was less able to mount a counter-offensive. After Lyth and Williamson had added 150 for the second wicket, an innings total in excess of four hundred runs seemed well on the cards, but a frustrating Yorkshire folded badly and could only boast a puny 34 runs first-innings lead.

Time was running out for the Tykes to deliver a necessary triumph, and with the weather misbehaving at regular intervals, Mr Gale felt obliged to provide buffet bowling on the final morning in order to engineer a lunchtime declaration from Sussex. So it came to pass that Yorkshire's batsmen bowled and Sussex gratefully accelerated to 333 for 3 in rapid time, before leaving Yorkshire to chase a tantalising three hundred runs off 64 overs.

Adam Lyth finished unbeaten in the run chase, and indeed his match efforts deserved to reap a greater reward. However, whilst Derbyshire feebly surrendered against Durham, Yorkshire's promising run chase was curtailed by inclement weather, which denied Sussex and their visitors a nail-biting finish. It will now take a remarkable transformation in the two remaining fixtures for Yorkshire to reach the finishing line ahead of the in-form Durham.

Sussex versus YORKSHIRE; at Hove; 11-14 September; YORKSHIRE won the toss

Sussex first innings: 292 (Brown 84*; Sidebottom 4-50)

YORKSHIRE first innings: 326 (Lyth 93, Williamson 80; Zaidi 4-57, Anyon 3-107)

Sussex second innings: 333 for 3 declared (Nash 167*, Hamilton-Brown 126*)

YORKSHIRE second innings: 81 for 2

Match drawn. Sussex 4 points; YORKSHIRE 6 points