Yorkshire’s LV= Insurance County Championship clash with Worcestershire at New Road ended in a rain-soaked draw, with only 39 overs of play possible on day four.
Despite a settled and sunny forecast for today, heavy rain struck the ground just before midday and forced a near three-hour delay with Worcestershire at 49-2 in their second innings, still 116 runs behind.
Either side of another 10-minute afternoon shower, the hosts advanced to 142-2 from 48 overs, with the players shaking hands on the draw just after at 5pm.
Across the game, 134 overs were lost to rain and bad light.
Yorkshire claimed their fifth draw from their eighth Division Two match, claiming 12 points. Worcestershire took eight points.
The visitors struck twice in the opening 55 minutes of play as the hosts advanced from 22-0 after nine overs, losing tail-end pair Adam Finch and then Ben Gibbon.
Finch was run out following a mix-up with his fellow tail-ender before Gibbon was caught at first slip by George Hill off Ben Coad, who claimed his sixth wicket of an impressive match.
Gibbon and Finch, Worcestershire’s last-wicket pair who survived for 35.3 overs together at the end of the first innings, opened the batting at the start of the second last night.
But they were quickly dislodged at the start of the day four, leaving the score at 32-2 after 13 overs.
Finch was the first to go when run out following a mix-up.
Gibbon played the ball to mid-wicket, where Mark Steketee picked the ball up and threw to the non-striker’s end with Finch stranded mid-pitch.
The ball missed the stumps, with bowler Fisher unable to gather. However, backing up, James Wharton managed to get his leg in the way and deflected the ball back into Fisher’s grasp. He managed to whip the bails with Finch still short.
Shortly afterwards, Gibbon fell to the Coad-Hill combination.
From late morning through to early evening, Jake Libby and Gareth Roderick batted calmly to suck any life out of the game.
The pair shared an unbroken 110, with Libby reaching 61 not out and Roderick 34.
Captain Libby reached a fifty off 75 balls immediately after tea, by which time Yorkshire were employing spin from both ends in the form of Dan Moriarty and Adam Lyth.
Approximately 15 minutes before the players shook hands on the draw, Lyth’s off-spin had Roderick caught at slip by Hill for 29, only to find umpires David Millns had signalled a no ball. James Wharton (off-spin) later bowled the last over of the fixture.
The two standout performances for Yorkshire in this fixture came from opener Fin Bean, who made a first-innings 135 at the top of the order in 407 all out, before Coad claimed 5-33 as the hosts responded with 242 and were made to follow-on.
Yorkshire are next in action against Sussex at Headingley, starting on Wednesday.
PHOTOS: John Heald.
