4.32pm – That’s it – match drawn. A superb season in the Championship comes to an end. Northamptonshire 71-2 in their second innings. We take 16 points to Northamptonshire’s 9. Division One here we come.
4.23pm – Wharton in the action today – 285 and now he’s bowling to as this fixture is wrapped up. Northamptonshire 57-2 in the 11th over.
4.09pm – WICKET! Patel is caught behind off Fisher, 9. Northamptonshire are 38-2 in the eighth of 34 overs scheduled for this evening.
4pm – WICKET! Miller brilliantly caught by a diving Bess at deep mid-wicket off Fisher, 22. Northamptonshire 29-1 in the sixth over of their second innings.
3.56pm – Northamptonshire 25-0 in the fifth over of their second innings. Miller 22, Patel 2. We will almost certainly be shaking hands at 4.30pm.
3.40pm – Fisher sharing the new ball. Northamptonshire 12-0 after one over. Tattersall has taken the wicketkeeping gloves. Bairstow to bowl before we’re done this evening?
3.36pm – Thompson is taking the new ball and will bowl to Miller. We have 34 overs remaining in the day. Northamptonshire are 579 and face quite the task to clear the deficit!
3.26pm – Yorkshire have declared their first innings on 726-7, with a lead of 579. Hill 54 not out, Thompson unbeaten on 56.
3.12pm – Tea. Yorkshire 726-7 from 141 overs, a lead of 579. Hill 54, Thompson 56.
3.06pm – SIX! Thompson reaches his buccaneering fifty off 43 balls with a six over long-off against Singh. 721-7.
3.04pm – Hill reaches his fifty off 61 balls with 6x4s, capping a memorable week – pardon the pun. 713-7.
2.59pm – Yorkshire 708-7 – the county’s second highest ever first-class total and the highest total by any county in this season’s Championship. Hill 48, Thompson 44.
2.56pm – SIX! Thompson hoists Singh over long-on to move to 40 out of 704-7 in the 138th over. Hill has 48.
2.46pm – SIX! Thompson hoists Zaib over long-on for six, moving to 25 out of 683-7. This is now the highest first-class total ever posted at Headingley. Hill has 42.
2.41pm – England 309 all out in the final ODI against Australia at Bristol. Duckett 107, Brook 72.
2.39pm – Yorkshire 672-7 after 133 overs. Hill 39 and Thompson 17.
2.28pm – Yorkshire 655-7, a lead of 508. Hill 31, Thompson 8. We have 47 overs left in the day.
2.19pm – WICKET! Bess trapped lbw by Singh, 6. Yorkshire 646-7, a lead of 499. Thompson in now.
2.06pm – WICKET! Tattersall bowled by Zaib, 21. We’re 635-6, a lead of 488. Bess joins Hill on 25.
2.03pm – What a day for James Wharton, who sits fifth on the list of highest individual first-class innings on this ground. Only Darren Lehmann, Don Bradman twice and John Edrich are ahead of him with triple hundreds.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com. James Wharton salutes the Headingley faithful today.
1.46pm – WICKET! Bairstow bowled by Zaib’s left-arm spin for a fine 78. We’re 600-5, a lead of 453. Hill in now.
1.36pm – WICKET! Wharton caught at long-on off Singh for a magnificent 285. We’re 586-4 in the 114th over, ending a 194 stand with Bairstow, who has 75. Tattersall in now.
1.31pm – SIX! Bairstow hoists Singh’s left-arm spin over long-off and moves to 75 out of 573-3 – Wharton has 272. Only three batters have scored more on this ground in first-class cricket. Lehmann, Bradman and Edrich are the only ones ahead of Wharton.
1.26pm – We’re about to resume, with Yorkshire 559-3, a lead of 412. We have 66 overs remaining in the day. Wharton 268, Bairstow 65.
1.18pm – We’re due to restart at 1.25pm. The light has improved.
1.08pm – It’s looking like we won’t be starting immediately after lunch. The umpires are out checking on the light.
12.32pm – Lunch. We’ve reached 559-3 from 110 overs, a lead of 412. Wharton 268 and Bairstow 65. We’ve scored 188 in the morning session.
12.21pm – Bairstow reaches an entertaining fifty off 58 balls with a pulled six off Zaib’s spin – 8x4s included. We’re 546-3 in the 107th over. Wharton 264.
12.17pm – Wharton has 264 and is racing up the list of highest first-class innings on this ground. He is into the top eight and is within touching distance of the top five. We have 536-3, a lead of 389. Bairstow has 46.
12.10pm – Wharton reaches his 250 off 289 balls with 30x4s and 8x6s. We’re 519-3, a lead of 372. Sensational knock. Yorkshire’s first player to reach 250 since 2014, Adam Lyth posted 251 against Lancashire at Emirates Old Trafford that summer.
11.52am – Fearsome batting from Wharton 237 and Bairstow 37. They have shared 107 to take us to 499-3 and a lead of 352. Sixes and fours galore.
11.42am – DOUBLE HUNDRED!!! Wharton reaches 200 for the first time in his career. What a fabulous innings. 272 balls, 25x4s and 4x6s. We’ve moved to 462-3 in the 98th over, a lead of 315.
11.40am – Bairstow is motoring as well. He has 35 off 29 balls with 8x4s. We’re 458-3 after 97 overs – a lead of 311. Wharton 198.
11.29am – SIX! Wharton pulls White over deep square-leg and has a career best 196 out of 435-3. Bairstow 15.
11.23am – Wharton is putting his foot down now, He’s just taken Broad for two fours in three balls and has 186 out of 424-3 after 94 overs, a lead of 277. Bairstow 15. The floodlights are on as well.
11.07am – We’ve moved to 402-3 in the 91st over, a lead of 255. Wharton 174, Bairstow 5.
10.57am – WICKET! Luxton bowled for a well made 49 by White, ending a 117-partnership with Wharton, who has 169. Bairstow in now.
10.38am – We’ve moved to 376-2 after two overs of day four. Wharton 163, Luxton 41. The lead is 229.
10.28am – Play is about to get underway here at Headingley. Yorkshire will resume their first innings on 371-2, a lead of 224. Wharton 162 and Luxton 37. We have 96 overs in the day.
9.30am – The club have just announced that young fast bowler Alex Wade has signed a two-year rookie professional contract. Earlier this month, Wade claimed six wickets in three matches for England Under 19s against Scotland and Ireland.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com. Alex Wade.
8.25am – Good morning from Headingley for one final time in 2024.
It’s a dry start to the final day of the cricket season, one which promoted Yorkshire will begin – at 10.30am – on 371-2 in their first-innings reply to Northamptonshire’s 147 all out.
The lead is 224, with James Wharton unbeaten on 162 and Will Luxton alongside him on 37. The likelihood is that Yorkshire will bat on for a short period this morning and then get bowling for the victory – what would be a sixth in the final seven games of the season.
With 96 overs in the day, in an absolute ideal world you would want a quick burst with the second new ball available to you. So if that is in Yorkshire’s mind, a 10-over thrash with the bat this morning could get the lead up to near 300. Wharton could even get his double ton.
What a day yesterday was. Following a delayed start to this match until tea-time day two, Yorkshire have put in a near-perfect performance to take a stranglehold on the game.
Yesterday was the promotion-sealer, with Adam Lyth scoring 147, matching Northamptonshire’s first-innings total, and sharing 260 for the second wicket with Wharton.
Promotion was sealed when Yorkshire reached 350 for their sixth bonus point of the match just before 6pm.
If you want to recap yesterday’s action, you can do via our match report and reaction piece with captain Jonny Tattersall, which are both linked below.
Congratulations also to Richmondshire CC, who are the Yorkshire Premier League champions having beaten New Farnley in the play-off final at Castleford yesterday. They chased a 180-target to win by four wickets. England fans will remember Gary Pratt’s involvement in the 2005 Ashes as a sub-fielder at Trent Bridge, running Ricky Ponting out. He top-scored with 59 not out for Richmondshire. Former Yorkshire wicketkeeper Dan Hodgson was also in their team.
The live stream from Headingley today will be available via the match centre tab at the top of the page. Enjoy the day.
