Captain Jonny Tattersall praised the performance of his Yorkshire players today as they chased a three-day victory over Sussex at Headingley.
Their bid ultimately fell short, and they must now hope the weather forecast for tomorrow is incorrect.
Sussex closed on 236-7 in their second innings, leading by 88.
The day started with Yorkshire batting aggressively in their first innings, scoring 78 in 9.2 overs to declare on 364-8 with a lead of 148.
Tattersall made his way from 19 to 41, providing fine support for the superb Dawid Malan, who went from 51 overnight to 92 in only 20 balls.
Ben Coad, Mark Steketee and Jordan Thompson all then struck twice but Sussex held firm.
“This morning we had a chat about how we wanted to go about it, and there were a few options on the table,” said Tattersall.
“We know there’s a lot of rain around tomorrow and we don’t know how much cricket’s going to get played. So we thought if we could force a result today, happy days.
“We played really well, battled away and tried everything.
“The pitch just wasn’t quite offering enough all the way through the day. When the ball got a bit softer, it didn’t do as much. Full credit to Sussex. They were aware of the situation and played pretty well and got through tonight.
“But we’ll come back tomorrow. We’re still in a great position, and we don’t know what’s going to happen. You never know.”
Of those aforementioned options, Tattersall said: “We thought about heading back out briefly to get 300 and pull out. That leaves a lot of time with conditions friendly for bowling this morning.
“Option B was the option we chose. Myself and Mala were going to try and get 350 as quick as possible, and we actually went very well and batted on a bit longer to get a few more runs. I thought we did it well.
“The other option was to bat normally for a full session and get 400 – 200 ahead of them – and bowl them out in two sessions. But we felt there weren’t going to be enough overs to do that. And that’s been proven today.”
He continued: “We’ve done everything we can in this game, and hopefully we don’t get beaten by the weather and we can wrap up the three wickets in the morning and get cracking with a short chase.
“Mala was brilliant and showed his class again in being able to play the situation. He deserved a hundred. I also felt the lads bowled brilliantly today and gave it everything.
“It’s been a good solid performance all round. We’d just really like to get a victory on the board.”
As well as his runs, excellent Tattersall has also taken six catches behind the wicket. He added: “You’re only as good as your bowlers, and most of them were fairly straightforward, fine nicks.”
