6.14pm – No more play today. That brings to an end a memorable day.
6.08pm – Off for bad light, with Yorkshire 371-2 in the 84th over, leading by 224. Wharton 162 and Luxton 37. They’ve shared 96. That will almost certainly be it for the day.
5.57pm – Wharton 150 off 228 balls. Fabulous. 352-2 in the 82nd over. He hit the run to seal promotion.
5.54pm – Yorkshire are promoted back to Division One!!!!!!!!
There it is. Yorkshire are back in Division One. We’ve reached 350-2 after 81 overs.
5.52pm – Yorkshire 346-2 in the 81st over. Nearly there.
5.49pm – 10 more runs needed for promotion. Light’s improved. 340-2 after 79 overs. Wharton 145 and Luxton 24.
5.45pm – Yorkshire 330-2 in the 78th over. Wharton has just pulled Singh for two boundaries, moving to 137. Luxton 22.
5.40pm – We’ve moved to 319-2 in the 76th over. Wharton 128 and Luxton 20. Almost 13 overs remaining. Northamptonshire have employed spin from both ends in the form of Singh and Zaib. Light borderline.
5.25pm – The umpires have just chatted about the light, but play continues. 306-2 in the 72nd over.
5.19pm – Can see the light thwarting Yorkshire tonight. We’re 306-2 with just over 18 overs left. It’s not amazing.
5.13pm – Yorkshire 300-2 after 68 overs. Wharton 114 and Luxton 15. One more point (50 runs) required for promotion. We have 20 overs remaining in the day as long as the light holds. Floodlights are on.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com. James Wharton celebrates his century against Northamptonshire.
5pm – Yorkshire 285-2 after 64 overs, a lead of 138. Wharton 109 and Luxton 6.
4.37pm – WICKET! Lyth trapped lbw sweeping at Singh’s left-arm spin for a brilliant 147 – we’re 275-2, ending a 260 stand with Wharton, who is 105 not out. Luxton in now.
4.22pm – HUNDRED!!! Wharton reaches his century off 154 balls with 15x4s and 1x6s. Stunning knock. We’re 264-1 after 54 overs. He has 101 and Lyth 140. The partnership is 249.
4.17pm – Yorkshire 251-1 – two more points required for promotion. Lyth 140 and Wharton 88. Just to reiterate, reaching 350 will secure a return to Division One. Lyth and Wharton have shared 237. Outstanding.
4.07pm – Middlesex bowled out for 271 at Sussex, missing out on four bonus points. Our 10-point pre-game target for promotion is down to 6. We already have 3 of those. That means if we reach 350, we will be promoted to Division One. We’re 238-1 with 38 overs left today.
3.57pm – Middlesex are 260-8 against Sussex at Hove.
3.53pm – We’re up and running after tea, with Yorkshire 228-1 in the 48th over, a lead of 81. Lyth 127 and Wharton 82.
3.32pm – Tea. What a session for Yorkshire, who are 228-1 after 47 overs, who lead Northamptonshire by 81. Lyth 127 not out and Wharton 82.
Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com. Adam Lyth celebrates his century against Northamptonshire today.
3.23pm – Lyth 123 and Wharton 76 have now shared 203 for the second wicket. It’s 219-1 in the 45th.
3.21pm – SIX! Wharton hoists the spin of Singh over long-off to move to 76 out of 214-1 in the 44th over. Lyth has 119, their partnership is 199, and the lead is 67.
2.59pm – Middlesex are 188-5 against Sussex at Hove. Promotion could yet be sealed today.
2.57pm – HUNDRED!!! Lyth reaches his ton off 111 balls with 17x4s and 1x6s. Outstanding. His fifth of the Championship season. Yorkshire are 184-1 after 37 overs. Wharton has 67. The lead is 37.
2.38pm – Lyth has 76 out of 147-1 – scores level – and has gone beyond 14,000 first-class runs for Yorkshire in this innings.
2.34pm – Wharton reaches a superb fifty off 81 balls with 9x4s. We’re 142-1 in the 32nd over. Lyth has 76, and we trail by five.
2.05pm – Lyth reaches his fifty off 67 balls with 8x4s and 1x6s. Excellent. We’re 104-1 after 25 overs, trailing by 43.
2.04pm – Yorkshire 100-1 in the 25th over, with Lyth 46 and Wharton 38. They’ve added 85 for the second wicket as we reply to Northamptonshire’s 147.
1.41pm – SIX! Lyth pulls Broad over square-leg to move to 46. We’re 83-1 in the 20th over of our reply to 147.
1.31pm – They have started at Hove. Middlesex are batting first having been inserted and are 38-1 in the 12th.
1.27pm – White is back on the park for Northamptonshire and is bowling to Lyth, who has just driven him for four to move to 35 out of 68-1 in the 17th. Half-century stand up with Wharton, who has 19. Excellent stuff.
1.23pm – Perfect start to the afternoon as Wharton drives Broad for back-to-back boundaries through the covers, the latter helped along by a misfield. He has 19 out of 64-1 in the 16th.
12.42pm – That’s lunch. An excellent morning sees Yorkshire wrap up Northamptonshire’s first innings for 147 and reply with 56-1 after 15 overs. Lyth has 31 and Wharton 11.
12.33pm – Into the final 10 minutes of the morning session. We’re 44-1 after 12 overs, with Lyth 19 and Wharton 11, as we reply to 147.
12.18pm – Northamptonshire seamer Jack White has to leave the field having seemingly taken a blow to the knee as he attempted to stop a well struck drive from Wharton in his follow through. Broad completes the ongoing eighth over. 32-1.
11.42am – Our reply to 147 is about to get underway. Lyth facing Sanderson. Bean opening with him. 88 overs left in the day.
11.31am – WICKET! Fisher gets White caught behind, 0, and wraps up the Northamptonshire innings for 147 with his third wicket. Bartlett 64 not out.
11.20am – WICKET! Sanderson bowled by Fisher, 2. It’s 137-9 in the 52nd over.
11.09am – WICKET! Fisher uproots Broad’s off-stump, 0, and it’s 133-8 in the 50th.
11.02am – Bartlett reaches his fifty off 80 balls with 11x4s. Northamptonshire are 132-7 in the 48th.
10.57am – WICKET! Coad with a fourth, McManus caught at leg slip by Bess, 5. Northamptonshire 128-7 after 47 overs.
10.53am – Northamptonshire are 128-6 after 46 overs. Bartlett 47, McManus 5.
10.48am – Play is yet to get underway at Hove, where they continue to be delayed by a wet outfield. In fact, no play before lunch.
10.37am – We’re through two of 104 overs scheduled for the day, bowled by Coad and then Fisher. Northamptonshire are 122-6, with Bartlett 46 and McManus yet to score.
10.30am – We’re up and running. Coad to Bartlett, who has edged the first ball of the day for four to move to 45 out of Northamptonshire’s 121-6.
9.44am – The warm-ups are in full swing here at Headingley.
8.45am – Good morning from Headingley, where the sun is shining and we’re set for the best day weather wise of the three so far in this final round clash with Northamptonshire.
We’re on course for a start on time at 10.30am, and there will be 104 overs in the day in order to make up a fraction of the time lost across the first two days.
When play started yesterday at 3.30pm, Yorkshire made the absolute most of the 40 overs available to them, restricting Northamptonshire to 117-6, including three wickets for Ben Coad.
That gave Yorkshire two bowling bonus points – two of the 10 they require to seal promotion.
That means should they draw this match – eight available for that – the White Rose county will be promoted back to Division One ahead of next season.
It has been said a lot this week, that 10 points is only a maximum haul assuming Middlesex gain the full 24 in their clash with Sussex at Hove, which is yet to start.
It could actually be that Yorkshire secure promotion today. It’s not impossible.
Middlesex get inserted by Sussex, get bowled out for less than 200, missing out on five batting points to reduce Yorkshire’s requirement to another three points.
Yorkshire polish off Northamptonshire and then reach 300 in reply late in the day. That would give them those three more points.
Anyway, there’s a lot of water to go under the bridge before that comes to pass, and Yorkshire have their hearts set on winning this fixture against Northamptonshire. That’s all they’re thinking about at present.
If you want to recap yesterday’s action, you can do via our match report and reaction piece with Ben Coad. They’re linked below.
Whilst we were off the field yesterday, it gave us a chance to sit down and chat to Matthew Fisher about his final weekend as a Yorkshire player. That’s also linked below.
Elsewhere today, New Farnley play Richmondshire in the YPL play-off final at Castleford.
The live stream of the action from Headingley will be available via the Match Centre tab at the top of the page. Enjoy the day.
