Yorkshire faced just 40-minutes to bat at the end of Day 4 once Hampshire declared 67-runs ahead after posting 599-3 in response to Yorkshire's 532. They comfortably survived on a pitch that got better for batting as the game progressed and take 6 points from the match to Hampshire's 9. The Tykes go 17 points clear of the relegation zone, although 8th placed Worcestershire have two games in hand.

Day 4 was either going to meander towards an inevitable draw or had overnight dialogue between the two skippers contrive a more exciting finish?

It was the former as Hampshire, with Neil McKenzie and Michael Carberry at the crease, content to bat for personal bests and their pertnership. 

McKenzie added the 5 needed to reach his century in the third over of the morning when he guided Ryan Sidebottom to third man. Michael Carberry cracked the same bowler through bacward point two overs later to take his score to 151 from 222 balls with 25 fours and a six and it appeared business as usual as the game plodded into oblivion with only bonus points to play for.

McKenzie stroked Wainwright over cover for 6 to got to 153 in 287 balls with 18 fours and that six as the inevitable flow of runs continued and the pair's stand grew to record proportions. Maximimum batting points were assured in the 105th over as Yorkshire toiled, but Yorkshire would not secure a single bowling bonus point.

The highest 3rd wicket partnership in Hampshire's history was 344 between George Brown and Philip Mead in Portsmouth in 1927, also against Yorkshire, and when McKenzie drove through cover, along the ground this time, the stand between Carberry and McKenzie became 347.

At lunch Hampshire had reached 422-2 with Carberry 197 and McKenzie 167 and were 110 runs behind. Carberry punched Wainwright through the leg side in the third over after the break and raised his bat for a double century from 318 balls and when he pushed into the offside for a single to go to 205 he was in new territory with a career best.

The partnership became the highest for the 3rd wicket against Yorkshire when it passed 393 and the highest for any wicket against the Tykes when it past Surrey's 447 (Abel & Hayward) at The Oval in 1899.

McKenzie's career best arrived when he past 226 and the records kept going.

We started to look at the highest first-class partnerships of all time. Yorkshire's famous pair of Percy Holmes and Herbert Sutcliffe held the Championship best of 555 against Essex at Leyton in 1932. The highest ever was 624 by Kumar Sangakarra and Michaela Jayawardene for Sri Lanka against South Africa at Colombo in 2006. They were all in peril.

At tea Hampshire were 582-2 and the stand between Carberry (287*) and McKenzie (237) was worth 523 and stood at 9th in the all-time first-class list for any wicket - 101 runs away from the highest partnership ever.

No more records would fall however as the second ball after tea saw Wainwright have McKenzie caught by Gary Ballance at mid-on and he was on his way for 237. Michael Carberry reached his triple hundred and Hampshire immediately declared with a lead of 67.

Yorkshire comfortably ended on 40-0 in the 40-minutes left to bat on a final day where only one wicket fell, and that to an attacking stroke, after no wickets fell on Day 3.

The statistics were interesting and well played to both men for a partnership of 523 that spanned 475 minutes, but the game was in no mans land and the pitch prevailed for all the wrong reasons.

The plethora of excellent games I've witnessed this summer have occurred where bat and ball fight in equal measure. This game saw none of that drama and was worse for it.

Why is it that pitch inspectors arrive early in the game when wickets fall, but are nowhere to be seen when bat dominates throughout. The match where Hampshire were deducted 8 points a fornight ago was a cracker. This match will not live long in the memory at all.

JAMES BUTTLER at the ROSE BOWL

MATCH INFORMATION

?DAY THREE REPORT

It has been a frustrating day for Yorkshire after 45 overs were lost to rain and a benign pitch prevented any Hampshire wickets being taken. Although the Tyke bowlers did not always put deliveries in the right areas the nature of the wicket gave no vertical or lateral movement and any spin was extremely slow as Hampshire closed on 291-2, still 241 runs behind.

Heavy overnight and morning rain led to a delayed start at 3pm with 51 overs to be played. Hampshire were 116-2 and still 256 from avoiding the follow on.

Michael Carberry was impressive and quickly sped to his fifty from 65 deliveries after glancing the first ball of the day from Ryan Sidebottom to the fine-leg boundary. The match was heading to a 'snore draw' unless the introduction of spin or some creative captaincy ahead of Day 4 broke the consistent rhythm of bat on ball.

Neil McKenzie reached his own fifty in 87 balls and the Hampshire innings was flowing along at a pace higher than Yorkshire's efforts over the first two days, helped by an attacking field, on a feather-bed that seemed a direct response to Hampshire's 8-point deduction for a 'poor' pitch in their last home fixture against Notts. Although both batsmen found the gaps with crisp shots and neat play it seems wrong that a team benefits from conceeding 500-plus.

The lack of anything for bowlers to chew on was degenerating the game into a perfect advert for t20 cricket. Yorkshire first innings 532 and the resulting attacking fields meant that their early dominance was assisting the Hampshire batsmen reach batting bonus points more quickly.

As Carberry and McKenzie sailed past the 200-mark and their partnership went past 150 the only thing that seemed likely to save the game from a lacklustre final day was a conversation between Gale and Cork over their late night Ovaltine.

At tea Hampshire had added 99-runs in 28 overs and at 215-2 Carberry was 8 short of a classy century and had been well supported by McKenzie who was unbeaten on 62 and Hampshire were 317-runs behind.

Carberry swatted Wainwright over mid-wicket for 6 to go to 99 and when he cut Shahzad for 4 to go to three figures he was obviously emotional. After recovering from blood clots on his lungs which kept him out of the game for 8 months during the winter he knows there are things more important than cricket, but scoring his first century since his return meant a great deal to him. He had faced 155 balls and was playing the sort of innings that elevated him to Test status for England in March 2010.

It's been a year since Carberry's last hundred, but he wasn't content to end their. Fluent, brutal, punchy, stylsh and smooth his driving was particularly impressive.

It was relentless stuff and as the double century stand arrived at 259-2 you had to feel for the Yorkshire players who had been energetic in the field, who had bowlers who were giving it everything they had, but for whom the door seemed firmly bolted.

Yorkshire took the new ball at 286-2, but shortly after bad light stopped play a quarter of an hour ahead of the scheduled close of 6.30pm. Carberry ended 140 not out and McKenzie was unbeaten on 95. The latter will hope his skipper does not opt for an overnight declaration! 

Andrew Gale indicated after the close that Hampshire captain Dominic Cork had already talked of setting up a contrived result on the final day, but that Yorkshire would only agree on their terms as they did not want to gift their relegation rivals victory. It remains to be seen whether any agreement can be reached.

JAMES BUTTLER at the ROSE BOWL

DAY TWO REPORT

Yorkshire made 532 in their first innings. In reply Hampshire were 116-2 at the close on Day 2, still 416 runs behind and 256 from avoiding the follow in.

Hampshire began their innings after tea and early signs were that Yorkshire were going to have to battle hard for every wicket on a track that was offering little to the seamers. Ryan Sidebottom had caught the edge of Liam Dawson's bat twice only to see the first fly past Joe Sayers outstretched right hand and fall short of Anthony McGrath. He induced a third edge though which was pouched by Gerard Brophy and Hampshire were 38-1 with Dawson making 13.

In David Wainwright's second over (spin had bowled all but 54 of Hampshire's 171.2 overs) he took Adams' edge and the catch was taken by Brophy to see the left-hander on his way for 29. Wainwright was settling into a good spell and can expect a dew more overs yet as this match continues. As can Rashid who was introduced 3 overs from the close. Joe Sayers got one over of off-spin but Hampshire made it through safely and Michael Carberry (37*) and Neil McKenzie (30*) will resume on Day 3.

Earlier, Gary Ballance scored the first runs of the day when he pulled Wood for 6 as Danny Briggs at fine leg dived and parried the ball over the ropes in the third over of the morning. After 110 overs, the cut-off for bonus points, Yorkshire were 333-3 and therefore take 3 points to Hampshire's 1.

Ballance continued where he left off yesterday, playing fluently and piercing the infield, particularly strong off the back foot. Ballance punched Wood to the off-side boundary and McGrath leant back and cracked Briggs through point and when Ballance chopped through the slips for 4 more it was 350-3 in the 114th over - just 19 balls too late for another batting bonus point.

McGrath and Ballance took their stand to 150 in their 46th over together and were moving along at 3.37 an over for the 4th wicket. Ballance was then bowled by Briggs to make the score 361-4. Ballance had faced 128 balls and hit 12 fours and 1 six in his highest Championship score.

It is of immense credit to Anthony McGrath that he raised his bat for a century during the morning session after a season he would rather forget. Character, grit and determination epitomised an innings that had spanned 265 balls, included 9 fours and lasted 5 minutes short of 5 hours.

It was a cover drive of serious quality off Sean Ervine that brought his first century of the summer and signalled the end of a drought that has blighted the 35-year-old's summer. It is the 33rd century of a tremendous career.

Yorkshire lunched on 411-4 with Anthony McGrath ridding himself of the 2011 demons to score an unbeaten hundred. He and Brophy looked set to let fly as the afternoon session began but McGrath chipped Ervine to Adams at mid-wicket and was on his way for 115. Yorkshire had 431 on the board after the 80-run stand closed and it was over to Brophy and Rashid to continue the acceleration.

That acceleration did not transpire as Brophy was caught and bowled Tahir for 53, Rashid caught at slip by Neil McKenzie off Tahir for 38, Richard Pyrah stumped off Briggs for 6, Ajmal Shahzad caught at long-off by Wood as he finally attempted to clobber Tahir for 18 and David Wainwright became 6th wicket as Yorkshire were all out for 532.

There were signs of intent, yet the anticipated onslaught did not materialise and one wondered whether Yorkshire were wasting too much time with poor weather forecast in Southampton on Thursday. The pitch however was slow and made any efforts to put foot to metal that much more difficult. It was hoped they do not regret taking time out of the match as their quest for 20 Hampshire wickets commenced after the tea interval.

No one had looked in undue discomfort with the bat during Yorkshire's innings. Could the Tykes get more from this pitch and force a win? At the start of the game most Yorkshire supporters would have snapped your hand off for a first innings total of 532, but there was plenty of work ahead for the White Rose county.

An aside - it is good to finally see Gary Ballance with a shirt that is spelt correctly. It has been a bit of an embarassment this season to see the name on his back shown BALANCE instead of BALLANCE. Spell checkers have a lot to answer for - try typing his name into a Word document. But you could say that 'it's been one L of a mistake' that has thankfully now been rectified.

JAMES BUTTLER at the ROSE BOWL

DAY ONE REPORT

Led by a Jacques Rudolph 99 and half-centuries from Anthony McGrath, Andrew Gale and Gary Ballance Yorkshire enjoyed their day at the Rose Bowl ending on 318-3, taking charge of a match that is vital to their hopes of avoiding the drop from Division One.

Yorkshire won the toss and batted first under hot sunshine at the Rose Bowl as they quickly needed to rid themselves of their CB40 nightmare in Amstelveen and regroup ahead of the crucial LV= County Championship encounter against Hampshire.

It was a cautious start by the Yorkshire openers, Jacques Rudolph and Joe Sayers, who knew that escaping the first hour of the new ball could lay the foundations of a healthy first day. They nearly made it, but at 10-to-noon Sayers edged Wood to Bates behind the stumps, who took an excellent catch low to his left, and was on his way for 8. Yorkshire were 20-1 and perhaps had been too cautious, but the bowling had allowed no width.

Imran Tahir had been introduced into the attack in the previous over, the 13th of the innings, which gave an early indication that Dominic Cork believed the pitch would be spin friendly, but it was Wood who conceded the first runs of his spell in his 8th over when Rudolph drove him to the cover fence.

Andrew Gale moved up to number 3 and immediately provided much needed impetus. Rudolph stroked two fours through cover off Tahir and Gale took the score passed fifty as he got off to a quick start. The fifty partnership came up in a shade over 30 minutes as Briggs introduction saw spin operating from both ends. It didn't halt the run-rate and Cork reemerged from the Northern End to be guided to the point boundary by Rudolph who then pulled in front of square in his next over for 4 more.

Rudolph swatted Briggs over wide mid-wicket for six to reach his fifty from 92 balls which included 7 fours and that one maximum. The hundred came up in the over before lunch which Yorkshire reached at 101-1.

Rudolph brought up the hundred stand with Gale with a flowing cover drive off Cork as the pair continued where they had left off before the break. They could not afford to relax however - the ruthless streak, so often lacking this summer needed to turn 120-1 into 250-2 and not 200-7.

Rudolph was playing beautifully. He disdainfully flicked Wood through mid-wicket and then leant back and tipped a short ball over the slips. Gale thumped the same bowler through wide mid-off to bring up his fifty from 89 balls including 9 fours. He then advanced down the track to Tahir and chipped straight to James Vince at mid-wicket. His reaction, as he slapped his bat on pads, was one of a man who had missed out and who had given Hampshire some hope. The 2nd wicket stand was worth 129 runs but you felt there had been much more to come.

Rudolph continued serenely. His presence appears to raise the game of the other quality players within the Yorkshire ranks and McGrath needed a little bit of that pixie dust to fall his way after a season where he was yet to reach fifty for the 1st Team. A couple of early boundaries indicated the magic was coming back. He was dropped by Jimmy Adams at short-leg off Tahir when on 20 when the score was 186-2 and Hampshire would regret the let-off.

Rudolph went into the nineties with a crunching square drive off Briggs, but on 99 whipped Tahir to Cork at mid-wicket and was on his way - the score 204-3. It was his fifth score between 89 and 99 in his last 11 first-class innings - some people would pay good money to be that consistent!

McGrath and Gary Ballance were determined not to give anything away post tea and the run-rate slowed. Ballance played some fluent shots and McGrath was resolute through the new ball as Yorkshire gathered a second batting bonus point. He then drove Briggs sweetly through the off-side to reach fifty. It had been a gritty innings, that showed his character, covering 156-balls and included 4 fours and his first of the season. He could be crucial over the remainder of the season and it was great to see the elder statesman of the batting order raise his bat at last.

The 300 arrived in the 101st over and Yorkshire seemed destined to miss their full quota of batting bonus points. McGrath drove Liam Dawson through extra cover to bring up the hundred stand for the 4th wicket with Ballance who reached his half-century moments later from 91 balls and 8 fours.

At the close the Tykes were 318-3 and as McGrath (65*) and Ballance (50*) left the field a few chants of 'Yaarkshire Yaarkshire Yaarkshire' could be heard - how very different to Sunday in Netherlands!

JAMES BUTTLER at the ROSE BOWL

MATCH PREVIEW

Hampshire are bottom of Division One and without a win this term, but Yorkshire will have to be more ruthless than they have shown of late if they are to take the points on the south coast.

With just five Championship matches remaining this season Yorkshire realistically require at least two wins in the run-in to guarantee their spot in the top division for 2012. They will not want to regret their failure to take the final two Hampshire wickets at Headingley in May.

Jacques Rudolph, Ryan Sidebottom and Gerard Brophy join the squad that flew to Southampton from Amsterdam on Sunday evening while Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow join up with the England Lions for their 4-day match at Scarborough and Ben Sanderson returns to the 2nd Team.

The disappointed faces that left the Amstelveen ground yesterday must harness and transform that negative energy into fight, grit and performance and get back to winning ways as the season reaches its climax. One thing is for sure - the weather should not be a problem over the four days - a mini-heatwave has been forecast!!

YORKSHIRE CARNEGIE

Andrew GALE (c), Joe SAYERS, Jacques RUDOLPH, Anthony McGRATH, Adam LYTH, Gary BALLANCE, Gerard BROPHY (wk), Adil RASHID, Ajmal SHAHZAD, Richard PYRAH, Ryan SIDEBOTTOM, Iain WARDLAW, David WAINWRIGHT.