An excellent 86 not out from captain Jonny Bairstow during a shortened fourth day against Durham steered Yorkshire to the sanctuary of a draw at the Banks Homes Riverside today.
Yorkshire have started the Rothesay County Championship summer with a defeat, a win and now a 13-point draw, the county having next weekend free of action before their next fixture against Warwickshire at Headingley on May 2.
The White Rose began today under the threat of a defeat, at 132-4 in their second innings with a lead of only 12. But they comfortably negated the threat of defeat thanks mainly to captain Bairstow, who shared 59 with fifth-wicket partner George Hill and then 96 with Matthew Revis for the sixth wicket.
When the rain arrived just before 3pm, with Yorkshire on 277-6 from 105.3 overs, the visitors led by 157 runs with just under 50 overs remaining in the day. Play was called off at 4pm.
Bairstow finished with 11 fours in 167 balls, while Hill posted 24 and Revis a pleasing 40 in an encouraging first game back following a back stress fracture suffered last August. He also claimed two wickets with his seamers yesterday.
Picture by Stu Forster/Getty Images. Matthew Revis posted an important 40 with the bat today having claimed two wickets with the ball yesterday. This was the all-rounder’s first game since last August following a back stress fracture.
Durham’s task was stiffened by the loss of overseas Australian seamer Brendan Doggett due to injury. He spent time off the field yesterday having gone over on his ankle and didn’t take the field this morning.
With fellow seamer Paul Coughlin having suffered an abdominal injury on day one, Durham were down to only four bowling options, including the part-time spin of Colin Ackermann.
With their second team in action at Nottinghamshire, the hosts had to utilise batting coach Will Gidman as a substitute fielder.
There was immediate positivity for Yorkshire as Bairstow took two boundaries off the seam of England’s Matthew Potts in the day’s opening over, and a lead of 50 was secured inside the hour.
Bairstow offered a leg-side catch behind to Ollie Robinson on 19 off Ben Raine’s bowling, but the wicketkeeper was unable to grasp the chance.
Picture by John Heald. George Hill scored a first-innings fifty on day one and contributed usefully again in the second innings.
Bairstow viciously pulled Potts through mid-wicket for four, but Hill was frustrated at not being able to do similar when Ackermann dropped one short in the 73rd over. Hill, on 24, found mid-wicket and Yorkshire were 176-5, leading by 56.
Durham were the most likely winners of this fixture, but both sides enjoyed periods of success.
Yorkshire’s best spell came during the first half of day three when, with Durham 303-1 in their first-innings reply to 307, they took the last nine wickets for 126 runs, with the wickets shared around the county’s seamers.
That gave the White Rose the opportunity to get a lead with the bat today and take valuable time out of the game against a Durham side who had lost their opening two matches of the summer.
The pitch was at its liveliest on day one when Yorkshire, having been inserted, made their way to 295-8 at close. From then, the surface became more placid.
Picture by Stu Forster/Getty Images. Jonny Bairstow drives en-route to a match-saving 86 not out.
Bairstow reached his fifty off 91 balls in the 81st over, the first with the new ball, with a cover drive against Raine. By that stage, Yorkshire were 203-5, leading by 83. It was Bairstow’s second half-century of the summer so far.
Bairstow was not becalmed by Durham’s bowlers – the captain determined to keep the scoreboard ticking.
Having raised his bat, he pulled Raine and split the field at deep square-leg and long-leg for another boundary just before the Yorkshire lead ticked over 100.
Revis pushed and then pulled a couple of boundaries off another Raine over just before lunch, where he had scored 24 of the 100 runs Yorkshire had accrued during the morning to reach 232-5.
Bairstow and Revis strengthened the White Rose position after lunch, taking the lead beyond 150.
Picture by Stu Forster/Getty Images. Durham were without injured seamer Brendan Doggett today. The Australian joined fellow seamer Paul Coughlin on the treatment table.
Unfortunately, however, Revis was caught behind off the inside-edge against Ackermann when 10 short of a fifty – 272-6 and a visiting lead of 152.
By this stage, Bairstow was in the early eighties and eyeing his 32nd first-class career century, however he was denied by the weather.
Bairstow’s 86 was the highest of five Yorkshire fifty-makers in this match, with James Wharton, Hill and Dom Bess all reaching that milestone in the first innings. Adam Lyth also did so in the second.
The wickets were shared around Yorkshire’s seamers.
For Durham, Alex Lees and Emilio Gay impressed with first-innings scores of 172 and 152 respectively, while Raine was their standout bowler with six wickets, including four in the first innings.
