Yorkshire remain under pressure in their penultimate round Specsavers County Championship clash with Kent at Emerald Headingley after the visitors had the better of a hard-fought second day.
Replying to a first-innings 482-8, with Kent’s declaration coming just before the start of play, both sides chipped away at their respective tasks.
Yorkshire were bowled out for 269 shortly before close, with Matthew Fisher’s career best unbeaten 47 off 150 balls the feature innings.
While they were not over-run by a Kent side who are making a late play for third place in Division One, their task to avoid defeat remains an uphill one even though the visitors did not enforce the follow-on with a lead of 213.
They closed on 2-0 from two second-innings overs.
A series of Yorkshire batsmen made starts in the middle to lower order, including Tim Bresnan’s 39.
Darren Stevens played his part again. After his day one 237, he claimed two early wickets with the new ball as the hosts slipped to 36-3. But fellow seamer Matt Milnes was the pick of their bowlers with 5-87, his second five-wicket haul of the Championship summer.
Yorkshire were fortunate that Kent dropped six catches in the first two sessions of day – two apiece for wicketkeeper Ollie Robinson and slip duo Zak Crawley and Ollie Rayner.
Burley-in-Wharfedale teenager Matty Revis was dropped on nought and eight on the way to nine off 59 balls.
He was the first of five wickets for Milnes, caught behind as the score fell to 36-3 in the 18th.
That came after Adam Lyth and Gary Ballance had both fallen for single-figure scores in the eighth over to Stevens. Lyth was caught at second slip low down by Francois du Plessis and Ballance lbw.
Either side of lunch, Tom Kohler-Cadmore and Harry Brook, who made 36 apiece, shared 59 for the fourth wicket before falling inside five early afternoon overs as the hosts fell from 95-3 in the 33rd over to 106-5 after 37.
Both men fell to Milnes, with Brook first to go lbw to one which kept low. Kohler-Cadmore then lost his off stump as he tried to leave alone.
Kent struck again in the 47th over, this time through Stevens’ new ball partner Harry Podmore, who had Jonny Tattersall (27) caught at third slip by Crawley as the score fell to 141-6.
Seventh-wicket pair Bresnan and Fisher then united either side of tea to take their side to the cusp of 200 and a first batting bonus point with a stand of 53.
Bresnan initially led the way before falling, and then Fisher moved beyond a previous career best score of 37.
Bresnan, playing to leg, had his off stump uprooted by bustling Milnes, a seamer with an extra yard of pace than someone like veteran Stevens. That left Yorkshire at 194-6 in the 69th.
Podmore struck again in the first over with the new ball as he bowled Steve Patterson, leaving the score at 220-8 after 81, before Milnes picked up his fifth by trapping Duanne Olivier lbw in the 87th over with Yorkshire six short of 250 and a second batting point.
Ajaz Patel edged a boundary to ensure Yorkshire reached that mark and made a breezy 20 before being bowled sweeping at Rayner’s off-spin.