Yorkshire 185 & 280-4dec. Durham 408-8dec. MATCH DRAWN. Yorkshire take 5 points and Durham 11.

MATCH INFO

Andrew Gale hit an unbeaten century and Gary Ballance was 53 not out as the pair combine to save the game with an unbeaten 5th wicket partnership of 120 runs. Earlier Adam Lyth hit a season's best 69 as he found form and Yorkshire showed fight and determination to secure the escape. If only the runs would come in the first innings when they earn much needed bonus points.

Yorkshire resumed and made healthy progress until light rain took the players off for a few moments. On the resumption Joe Root was lbw to one that kept low from Graham Onions for 28 and Yorkshire were 50-1. That became 59-2 when Anthony McGrath flicked at one down the leg-side from Steve Harmison and was caught by Phil Mustard for a duck.

News came in that Worcestershire had taken maximum points from their win against bottom placed Hampshire and therefore jumped ahead of Yorkshire in the table. The 3 points Yorkshire could secure from a draw against Durham would not move them out of the relgation zone but might prove crucial during the latter part of the summer.

Andrew Gale joined Adam Lyth and added fifty for the 3rd wicket. Lyth went to fifty from 100 balls and 6 fours and by lunch the pair had progressed Yorkshire's resistance to 129-2, still 94 behind. Andrew Gale is 29 and Adam Lyth 64.

The partnership was worth 95 when Lyth was smartly stumped by Phil Mustard off the bowling of Ian Blackwell for 69. Jonny Bairstow scored 6 before an almighty mix up saw him run out and Yorkshire were 160-4. Yorkshire could ill afford to gift-wrap their wickets.

Andrew Gale went to his fifty in 83 balls and included 6 fours. His job was not done though and with Gary Ballance he needed to continue his stubborn stay at the crease. The pair set their stall out to bat time. Ballance was dropped on 23 by Gordon Muchall at first slip off Callum Thorp when the score was 215. Yorkshire wiped off the deficit when Ballance tickled Benkenstein to the fine leg fence ten minutes before tea when the lead was 9 runs.

Consecutive Gale boundaries off Blackwell took him into the nineties and took his partnership with Ballance for the 5th wicket into three figures. Ballance reached his personal milestone first reaching fifty off 97 balls and 6 fours.

Gale hit Borthwick over the top for four and tickled a single for a single to bring up his century, the partnership was 115 runs and Yorkshire had secured safety. Gale had taken 192 balls and hit 15 fours in a captain's innings.

Durham had one last throw of the dice when the new ball was taken by Onions and Harmison, but no wickets came and the captain's shook hands at 4.50pm with the match ending as a draw.

JAMES BUTTLER

DAY THREE REPORT

Durham declared their first innings at 408-8 in reply to Yorkshire's 185 and had earned a lead of 223 runs. With 7 overs for Yorkshire to face until close the Tykes had a long trek to save the game. Lyth was dropped by Mustard in front of first slip off Thorp when on 4, but both he and Joe Root (also on 4) made it through to close with Yorkshire 13-0.

When Durham's innings got underway Ajmal Shahzad got rid of the dangerous Michael DiVenuto for 5 when he had him caught by Adil Rashid at slip in a repeat of the previous ball when Rashid had spilled a similar chance. Durham were 7-1.

Gordon Muchall struck the ball well and with Will Smith he added 47 for the 2nd wicket before Patterson had the former Durham captain caught for 13 at third slip diving to hiis left by Rashid. Muchaell hit 9 fours and faced 40 balls for his fifty but Sidebottom found his edge and he was caught by Lyth at slip to reduce Durham to 86-3.

Dale Benkenstein, who has been Durham's key man this summer, edged Patterson behind to be dismissed for 5 3 balls before Durham reached lunch at 95-4 still 90 runs behind. Collingwood and Blackwell continued into the afternoon, their fifty partnership coming in 9 overs and Durham were reasserting their authority. But Patterson had Blackwell caught by Lyth at slip for 28 to an unecessarily aggressive pull shot and the match was in the balance.

Phil Mustard joined Collingwood, who was unbeaten on 31, and was dropped by Richard Pyrah at second slip from the first ball he faced from Patterson. Pyrah shelled a more difficult Mustard chance when he was on 1 off Sidebottom's bowling and Yorkshire were missing their chance to drive the game.

Mustard was then dropped by Andrew Gale off Patterson at mid-off when the score was 191-5 and he was on 32 and Yorkshire were giving the Durham skipper, averaging well in excess of 80 in this year's Championship, far too many lives.

Collingwood, limping noticeably, went to fifty off 75 balls which included 7 fours as Durham neared 200. Durham had passed Yorkshire first innings tally in the 38th over. It had taken Yorkshire nearly 60 overs to get that far. Mustard's own fifty came in 47 balls and included 11 fours - you cannot drop a player like that three times and expext to continue smiling.

Mustard was then given out lbw off Rashid only to see the umpire reconsider and signal a dead ball. Some people lead a charmed life. The scoreboard had even added the 6th wicket! It became apparent that umpire Tim Robinson had realised Mustard had hit the ball. Collingwood and Mustard continued past their hundred stand in 20 overs and it was not going to be Yorkshire's day.

Mustard finally went to a top-edged reverse sweep which was caught by Lyth running back at slip and Durham were 254-6. Mustard had made 70, but Collingwood was still going strong and at tea the score had moved to 265-6 with Collingwood unbeaten on 82. He subsequently went to his hundred, his first for Durham since 112 v Derbyshire in August 2005, which had taken him 145 balls and included 10 fours. Joe Root then saw the back of the former England all-rounder for 108 when he got an edge that was caught by Lyth at slip. Durham were 319-7 and had a lead of 134 runs.

Yorkshire's slow over-rate again meant Andrew Gale had to bowl Rashid and Root more than he might have liked.

Scott Borthwick, who had been dropped by Lyth at slip off Rashid when on 18, passed his fifty from 68 balls hitting 8 fours as Durham went to their 4th batting bonus pount at 350. Callum Thorp joined in hitting three huge sixes off Root and Rashid the hunt for quick runs continued and the pair's fifty partnership came in 9 overs. Thorp was caught bt Patterson off Rashid for 29, but he'd helped push the lead to 202 runs.

Steve Patterson's 3-82 were the best of Yorkshire's rather expensive figures.

Earlier, the last Yorkshire pair added a further 15 runs before Steve Patterson edged Steve Harmison (3-27) behind for 12 and Yorkshire were 185 all out, just 15 runs short of a vital batting bonus point. Ajmal Shahzad was 18 not out.

JAMES BUTTLER

DAY TWO REPORT

Yorkshire's batsman struggled against the elements and a strong Durham seam attack as they closed Day 2 at 170-9. Only Adil Rashid (47), Jonny Bairstow (38), Joe Root (27) and Richard Pyrah (18) reached double figures on a stop-start day.

Phil Mustard won the toss for Durham and unsurprisingly asked Yorkshire to bat first on what was effectively Day 1 of a 3-day contest after no play was possible on Day 1 due to heavy rain.

Adam Lyth fell to the final ball of Graham Onions opening over when he was well caught low to his left at 2nd slip by Michael DiVenuto for a duck. Anthony McGrath was then lbw to Callum Thorp for 3 and Yorkshire were 9-2 on a pitch and with conditions aiding the bowling side. Andrew Gale (9) added 19 with Joe Root before an Onions delivery reared up and he could only steer an edge to Scot Borthwick at 3rd slip.

Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow then combined to retrieve the situation. Their stand, permeated by some exceptional deliveries from Onions and Thorp, also saw them attempt to maximise any run scoring opportunities. Onions changed ends and Steve Harmison replaced Thorp, but initially struggled to find his line after missing the last few weeks with a back injury.

Bad light stopped play at 12.15pm with the score 66-3. Lunch was taken at 12.40 with a hope to resume play at 1.20pm, but then the rain came again. It was typical of Yorkshire's season that just as they were building a recovery the play ceased allowing Durham's seam attack to rest and regroup.

Yorkshire had to start again when play finally restarted at 4.30pm with 35.3 overs remaining. Root went soon after the resumption without adding to his 27 when he was caught at slip off Harmison and Gary Ballance played on to the former England star without scoring. Bairstow had played confidently for 38 when Onions had him caught at slip off an indifferent drive and Yorkshire were in trouble at 90-6. 

Adil Rashid weathered an early storm to combine with Richard Pyrah in a stand worth 58 for the 7th wicket. Rashid has gradually improved his batting form this summer and hit 8 fours in his 47 before Paul Collingwood erred down the legside and a gloved chance was pouched by Mustard. Pyrah followed 1 run later when a complete yes, no, meet in the middle, hesitation mix up led to his run out for 18 when backing up and Yorkshire had slipped again to 149-8.

Ryan Sidebottom edged a short Collingwood delivery to Mustard for 3 before Ajmal Shahzad and Steve Patterson dug in against a hostile Onions through to the close. Yorkshire's final pair will resume tomorrow morning at 11am, weather permitting!

Graham Onions has 3-66 while Steve Harmison and Paul Collingwood both took 2-22.

JAMES BUTTLER

DAY ONE REPORT

Andrew Gale's side did not have much time to celebrate their fantastic victory over Lancashire in the t20 last night. Instead, it was straight up the A1 to Durham ahead of an important 4-day Championship clash against the Divison 1 leaders. But, overnight rain ensured the rush up north was wasted when no play was possible on Saturday.

YORKSHIRE TEAM

Adam LYTH, Joe ROOT, Anthony McGRATH, Andrew GALE (c), Jonny BAIRSTOW, Gary BALLANCE, Adil RASHID, Richard PYRAH, Ajmal SHAHZAD, Ryan SIDEBOTTOM, Steve PATTERSON.

12th Man:? Azeem RAFIQ. Tim Bresnan travels with the side to train.

Yorkshire have struggled in the 4-day game this summer with the season's opener at Worcester providing the only victory. It will be hoped that the recent successes in the 20-over format will have rid a few cobwebs and given the side a new lease of life in the Championship.

Andrew Gale had to make some tough choices when he picks the starting XI this morning, Only he and Jonny Bairstow have been consistent performers with the bat so far this season in the Championship. Adam Lyth, who was dropped for the last 4-day fixture against Sussex at Hove is likely to return after showing good form in the t20 matches, but the remaining batting places were between Joe Root, Gary Ballance, Joe Sayers, Anthony McGrath and Gerard Brophy. Sayers and Brophy miss out this time.

Richard Pyrah will return after recovering from a knee injury and Ajmal Shahzad is back in the side after sustaining an ankle injury in the hard earned draw at Hove. Oliver Hannon-Dalby, David Wainwright and Moin Ashraf who were part of the squad on the south coast a couple of weeks ago step aside.

Tim Bresnan travels with the side as he comes to the end of his rehab after a calf strain, but he will not play and is likely to make his comeback in the forthcoming t20 fixtures.