Key events
Kelly tries to win it with a six but is caught in the deep. What an innings though. Six needed as Ian Holland strides in.
The Surrey charge has wilted, Thomas done by a beauty from Crane, Lawrence (46) and Patel (132) gone too. Surrey 328 for six, need 284. But at Grace Road, it is nearly over…
Sussex BEAT Notts by seven wickets!
Hove: Sussex 358 and 76-3 BEAT Nottinghamshire 240 and 193 by seven wickets.
An upside down result, in a peculiar week of cricket. From nowhere, Warwickshire find themselves in control of their own destiny.
A sad goodbye to Hove from a host of Sussex players.
Sussex are nearly there, need just 11 needed and Leicestershire, dear Leicestershire are just 42 away, Kelly and Cox have put on 122.
The pitch inspector is being brought a cup of tea.
Tuning into Hove, but distracted by the pitch inspector who is throwing a ball down the pitch and watching the bounce which isn’t an uniform as a Yorkshire fan might like. Starting to do some calculations which could mean that Yorkshire find themselves on the edge of relegation bother.
Pitch inspector seen at Headingley
I hate to say it but pitch inspector Andy Mackay is staring at the Headingley pitch.
Anthony McGrath has a long post-match chat, says Yorkshire are looking to finish well against Notts “it’s a long time till April but I think you can take a lot of momentum into next season.”
“The batting is a big one for us, early in the season we left a lot of runs out there. The lower order has got us out of trouble on a few occasions. There’s no doubt how hard the boys are working but we need to get it right.”
He says there is a good chance Yorkshire will go for an overseas batter next year.
Ben Cliff: “It’s probably one of the most pleasing performances of the season. He’s a local lad, works really hard, this match he had confidence, belief, his were legs pumping, to get eleven for…I think he’s going to be a real asset to us, this is the start, it can’t be a one off.” He says Troy Cooley has been at Headingley today watching.
On Jonny: He’s signed a three-year contract, if you see him today celebrating every wicket, he needs more runs but look at the passion – he was driving that behind the stumps so I hope we will see him in a white shirt. “
Lunchtime scores
Division One
Chelmsford: Warwickshire 191 and 138-2 BEAT Essex 134 and 189 by eight wickets
Grace Road: Leicestershire 244 and 267-4 v Hampshire 214 and 363 Leics need 67 to win
The Oval: Surrey 115 and 291-4 v Glamorgan 132 and 594 Surrey need 321 to win
Hove: Sussex 358 and 48-2 v Nottinghamshire 240 and 193 Susse need 28 to win
Headingley: Yorkshire 212 and 275 BEAT Somerset 201 and 101 by 185 runs
Division Two
Chester-le-Street: Durham 465 and 235 v Worcestershire 448 and 31-1 Worcs need 222 to win
Bristol: Gloucestershire 296 and 77-6 v Middlesex 326 and 361 Glos need 315 to win
Canterbury: Kent 214 and 142-3 BEAT Lancashire 161 and 192 by seven wickets
Wantage Road: Northamptonshire 310 and 152-0 v Derbyshire 372 and 286 Northants need 197 to win
“We knew the magnitude of the game but unfortunately Yorkshire played the better cricket”
A sombre looking Jason Kerr:
“It’s extremely disappointing, we came here with belief. We needed early partnerships but we felt with the way the wicket played yesterday we’d have an opportunity but the characteristics of day one and two returned. There was a ridiculous amount of life in the surface for a day four pitch, and it proved too much.”
Hill and Bess’s partnership. “If you’re chasing 150 it is a completely different game to chasing 280 but you have to give a huge amount of credit to Bessy and Hill, they played extremely well.”
Next week: “What we are going to have to do is beat Surrey, we can’t control what happens up the road. We’ve got a few days to regroup we’ll see how the guys pull up. We’ll have a look at what surfaces are available.
“It is huge, the disappointment in the dressing room, we knew the magnitude of the game but unfortunately Yorkshire played the better cricket. We’ll hold our heads high, we’ll feel today, I’ll allow them that and keep building towards next week.”
While waiting for Jason Kerr to emerge from the Somerset dressing room I watched the beautiful Somerset flag being folded up and put in a Sainsbury’s bag.
Yorkshire come out and give a round of applause to the fans as Headingley prepares to lock up for the winter. Somerset go into their final game 11 points behind Warwickshire. Notts, though, haven’t given up – Sussex 14-2, need another 62.
Yorkshire BEAT Somerset by 185 runs!
All over in 82 minutes as Revis crushes Jake Balls stumps. Handshakes and hugs all round. Ben Cliff (11 for 105) leads everyone off to huge applause, holding the ball, waving to his family. The cider lies spilt all over the floor.
Yorkshire sign up with Urban Chanin renewable energy company
While there is still life in this match, just wanted to congratulate Yorkshire who have signed up with renewable energy company Urban Chain to provide their power from the new year. Urban Chain connects renewable energy generators to buyers, so Headingley’s power will come from a range of renewable sources, with the hope that, in time, more and more of them will come from within Yorkshire’s boundaries. It is part of a wide strategy to improve sustainability, which the club kicked off by doing a transport survey with members to work out how people travel to the ground.
Pretorius stands like a frozen collie after edging perky George Hill behind. Somerset crumble to 92 for nine.
100 for Patel
An hour gone now, and Somerset in tatters – what else is happening?
Leicestershire are still standing at Grace Road, 193 for four, need 141.
I think Surrey are going to do this ridiculous chase, 240-3, they need 372, Patel, 104 not out, has just been joined by Dan Lawrence after Pope was out for 75.
And Sussex have just rid of the last Notts batter. They need just 76 to win – but Olly Stone is pawing the ground.
Eleven wickets in the match for Ben Cliff, the heartbreaker.
Lyth shakes his hand vigorously after maybe putting down a catch at slip, but it doesn’t matter as Lewis Gregory is lbw next ball. No romantic benefit of the doubt from Richard Kettlebrough. Somerset 88 for eight.
Not with a bang but an edge behind. Overton gone for five. Somerset 87 for seven. And no rain in sight.
The sun is out. Just six runs in 35 minutes and Rew feels the pressure as he from nowhere risks a drives and is caught at second slip. Another Somerset player makes a head down slouch back to the dressing room. Somerset 79 for six.
Another (sob), Tom Abell in his smart short sleeved sweater, Will Luxton at point collects from a ball that shot up and flew off the top of the bat. Somerset 76 for five.
There’s been a wicket at Grace Road, Hamza Sheikh and, oh! there’s a wicket here, Lammonby fishing gets an outside edge and YJB collects. A ninth wicket in the match for Ben Cliff. Somerset 76 for four and James Rew gets the chance to play an innings for the selector’s notebook (Stephen Fleming popped into Headingley yesterday). Ooof, and Cliff skates past his outside edge first ball. This is looking quite sticky for Somerset.
Five wickets for Karvelas!
Another for Ari Karvelas who is having a dreamy 24 hours, Hutton caught, very well, at slip. Notts are eight-down and lead by just 32.
I can’t tell if it is getting darker or my glasses need a clean. But Ben Coad is definitely racing in from the Kirkstall Lane End. Somerset have chosen the safety first option – just two runs scored so far today. Application, application, application.
Ben Cliff’s long legs march back to his mark at the Howard Stand End. Abell immaculately leaves, and another. The Yorkshire fielders are very enthusiastic.
Yorkshire huddle, Lammonby and Abell march past them to the middle. Bess with the ball to finish his over from last night.
A desperate day for Notts yesterday. This was HH last night“I never doubt the effort or commitment from the boys, they always give 100 per cent every day but unfortunately we find ourselves up against it tomorrow.
“The message for tomorrow is that we’ve got to fight our corner and try and get back into this game. I know the character and skill is there and we’re going to have to do it again.”
Somerset are in the safety of the dressing room and only one man in whites is out in the middle, Matt Revis, who caused all sorts of trouble with the ball last night. The clouds are high at the moment and no sign of immediate rain.
Roundup: Bess frustrates old teammates to jolt Somerset’s title ambitions
It was a tense day at Headingley, cold enough in the shade for the stewards to wear gloves, but hot on the pitch where Somerset wobbled but just about held on to their Championship dream. It took more than a session to break Yorkshire’s overnight partnership of George Hill and Dom Bess, who played with swaggering patience in a seventh-wicket partnership of 166.
Hill finally fell to a top-edged pull for a season’s best 89 to Craig Overton, who chased him to the rope to say well done. The former Somerset player Bess followed for 77, all material for Tom Abell’s best man’s speech at Bess’s wedding next month. Set 287, Somerset had a catastrophic start when Josh Thomas was caught behind in the first over, and a couple more wickets followed, the fielders providing regular reminders that the title has never gone to Taunton, before Abell and Tom Lammonby saw things through to the close. Tomorrow’s magic cider number is 214.
Leicestershire, reeling from the 27-point penalty heaped on them by the Cricket Regulator, made international news after the chief groundsman attributed some of his pitch problems to the filming of a new Sourav Ganguly biopic “Dada”, starring Rajkummar Rao, at Grace Road. Out in the middle, the match had become an instant relegation battle with Hampshire – a draw would send both teams down; but a winner would take at least a mathematical chance of survival into the final game. Leicestershire dug their heels in and removed the last six Hampshire wickets for 80. And after being set 334, they were 156 for three at stumps, but crucially without Rehan Ahmed whose eight fours in his 55 had got the pulse racing. Rishi Patel, batting for the last time at Grace Road before he moves to Southampton, hit 27.
The reigning champions, Nottinghamshire, hobble into day four after Ari Karvelas, diverted temporarily from a teaching job in Sussex’s hour of need, fizzed out their top four, and Jaydev Unadkat knocked out three more, leaving the second innings in tatters. Notts lead Sussex by only 31 with three wickets in hand.
And once more to the drawing board for Lancashire, who suffered an eighth defeat in 10 as Kent easily knocked off the 56 runs needed to take them into a prime Division Two promotion place. Their only rivals, Northamptonshire, were frustrated by Derbyshire’s Nick Potts (57) and Randell (45) and must chase another 312 to return to nose to nose at the top.
Score on the doors
Division One
Chelmsford: Warwickshire 191 and 138-2 BEAT Essex 134 and 189 by eight wickets
Grace Road: Leicestershire 244 and 156-3 v Hampshire 214 and 363 Leics need 178 to win
The Oval: Surrey 115 and 177-2 v Glamorgan 132 and 594 Surrey need 435 to win
Hove: Sussex 358 v Nottinghamshire 240 and 149-7
Headingley: Yorkshire 212 and 275 v Somerset 201 and73-3 Somerset need 214 to win
Division Two
Chester-le-Street: Durham 465 and 161-6 v Worcestershire 448
Bristol: Gloucestershire 296 v Middlesex 326 and 298-6
Canterbury: Kent 214 and 142-3 BEAT Lancashire 161 and 192 by seven wickets
Wantage Road: Northamptonshire 310 and 37-0 v Derbyshire 372 and 286 Northants need 312 to win
Preamble
Good morning and welcome to the final day of this penultimate round. There are last-gasp buddlejas growing in the pavement cracks all over Headingley, much like today’s assignment for Somerset, for Notts and for Northants.
Somerset need 214, but they’ve lost three wickets and batting was fiendishly hard last night. They’ll be hoping a new dawn and an older ball brings some succour. Notts must to batten every bolt to keep Sussex at bay, while Northants need another 312 to keep up with Kent, who, like Warwickshire, watch and wait.
Join us as the story gets told. Play starts at 10.30am.
