Yorkshire wrapped up their fifth win of the season in the Specsavers County Championship, seeing off Nottinghamshire by 143 runs just after lunch on day four at Scarborough.
A polished performance, which saw them recover from 13-4 in the first innings to dominate the game, was completed when Notts were bowled out for 243 in their pursuit of 387 to win.
South African Test spinner Keshav Maharaj continued his excellent form with six second-innings wickets for 95 in 30 overs, taking his tally to 28 in four games as the county’s overseas player.
The left-armer’s final appearance of the summer will come against Somerset at Taunton (September 10-13), the first of three remaining games.
Yorkshire, who completed the win two overs after lunch, will head into that clash 37 points behind leaders Essex, with Somerset sandwiched in between in second.
A Division One title remains a distinct outside chance for the White Rose county.
Notts are rooted to the foot of Division One without a win in their 11 games, and they are on course for relegation.
They will rue allowing Yorkshire to recover from 13-4 and 38-5 in the first innings to post 232. Then, in their reply, they slipped from 41-0 to 184 all out.
Yorkshire struck four times before lunch on day four, but had to wait 50 minutes for their first.
That came when Ben Duckett got a leading edge as he looked to turn Duanne Olivier leg, only for Will Fraine to take a smart tumbling catch at point.
At that stage, Notts were 181-5 in the 55th over, the day’s 13th, and it ended a 78-run stand between Duckett and Liam Patterson-White.
Both left-handers posted fifties, with Duckett’s 75 off 110 balls the top score in the innings.
Maharaj then struck four overs later when Tom Moores turned his left-arm spin to short-leg, where Fraine took his second catch of the morning (187-6 in the 59th).
Inside the final half hour of regular time in the morning, Patterson-White reached his maiden fifty off 98 balls in his third game with an arrow straight six off Maharaj which thudded into the wall below the press box at the Peasholm Park End of the ground.
Tim Bresnan’s third ball of the day yielded the wicket of Paul Coughlin, caught at second slip by Adam Lyth as he tried to leave alone, with Notts now 218-7 in the 70th over.
Shortly before, Coughlin had been struck on the helmet by an Olivier bouncer.
Maharaj then picked up his fourth wicket of the innings by bowling Luke Wood with a sharp turner – 219-8 in the 71st.
Lunch was delayed by 15 minutes to see if the game could be finished, but Yorkshire’s ninth and 10th wickets came with successive deliveries in the 79th over when Maharaj trapped Luke Fletcher lbw and had Jake Ball caught behind.
Before that aforementioned Somerset clash at Taunton, Yorkshire will complete their Vitality Blast campaign.
They need to win their remaining four North Group games to have any chance of reaching the quarter-finals, starting against Durham at Emirates Riverside on Friday night.
The quarter-finals will also take place prior to the trip to the West Country.
Maharaj’s last game for Yorkshire, meanwhile, will come at Taunton before he resumes South Africa Test commitments.
What they said…
Yorkshire coach Andrew Gale
“That’s a good win.
“I had no problem with the way we went about our batting in the first innings. I said to the lads after the first day, ‘Sometimes you have to just give the opposition credit’. I thought Luke Wood probably bowled one of the best spells he has done in his career.
“Yes, we gave them a couple of wickets out of the 10 that we lost, but the attitude and approach to it was good. It just happened that we were 13-4.
“But I thought the partnership between Tim Bresnan and Jonny Tattersall (121 for the sixth wicket) was the biggest difference in the game. They showed a lot of character and skill.
“From there, we drove the game.
“Keshav’s (Maharaj) been huge for us. I think one of the lads just said he’s got 28 wickets in four games. When you get a total like that on the board second innings and there’s a bit in the pitch, having a world-class spinner is massive.
“Kent sort of messed it up (Yorkshire’s title hopes) against Essex. All we can do is control what we’re doing. We’re playing some good cricket in this format.”
Nottinghamshire stand-in captain Chris Nash
“It’s hard when you’re in the position we are, at the bottom of the table having lost another game, to draw on any positives. I know people will get sick of us talking about positives, but there were some.
“Ultimately, we had them 38-5 and let them get 60 or so more than we’d have liked. Then we’re 180 odd all out from 90-2.
“That’s the switch in the game and the 140 runs we’re looking for.
“It’s disappointing in that respect.
“The way we came back with the ball in the second innings on day three was pleasing. We never let them get away to completely dominate the game.
“We can’t hide from the fact we’ve played some poor cricket, which has cost us the game. But character wise and the way we went about it, it’s encouraging.
“Liam Patterson-White has played three games and nearly taken 20 wickets. He also showed a lot with the bat there.
“He’s played on a couple of turning pitches before this, so for him to show what he did on day one – it was a tough end to bowl and the seamers were struggling into quite a strong wind. To not only go for two an over and take four wickets was a credit to him.”
