Yorkshire take significant step towards the title
YORKSHIRE took another giant step towards retaining the LV= County Championship title when they beat Durham by 183 runs at Scarborough to register a sixth consecutive victory in the competition.
They already held a 34-point lead over secondplaced Warwickshire before the game began – which they have temporarily increased to 50 points – and with five matches still remaining they seem virtually uncatchable.
Yorkshire resumed their second innings on the third morning on 420 for nine with an overall lead of 426 and Steve Patterson smacked three quick boundaries before losing his off-stump to Graham Onions for 36 off the 14th delivery with the score on 440.
That left Durham to make 447 with 187 overs at their disposal and they made good progress until they were undone by a blast either side of lunch from their ex- paceman Liam Plunkett, in which he took three wickets.
At 143-4 their resistance was crumbling and they were bowled out for 263 with 22.5 overs of the third day remaining, Plunkett returning season’s best figures of four for 61.
The second ball of Durham’s run-chase saw Mark Stoneman survive a concerted appeal for caught behind down the leg-side off Ryan Sidebottom and after that he and Graham Clark settled into a confident partnership.
But when he had contributed 37 out of 54, Stoneman drove powerfully back to Tim Bresnan who flung out a left hand to hold on to a brilliant catch.
Scott Borthwick came in and soon drove Patterson back with some force but this time the bowler could not make a chest-high chance stick and when Borthwick reached 26 with a boundary off Plunkett, it took him beyond 1,000 first class runs for the season.
Durham looked to be going in to lunch comfortably placed on 107 for one but Plunkett’s last ball before the interval pinned Clark lbw for 36.
Re-energised after the break, Plunkett struck again in his next over by getting rid of Borthwick to an even more stunning catch than Bresnan had managed. The batsman, having made 31, edged hard to Glenn Maxwell’s left at third slip and the Australian flung himself sideways to grip the ball. ushering in the next generation and it is a job the former all-rounder will not shy away from.
Asked if his squad had reached the end of the road, Lehmann said: “Yeah, probably. We’ve got a bit of thinking to do and reviewing what went wrong.
“There are going to be tough calls somewhere. We’re not afraid to make the tough call, but you’ve got to also look after Australian cricket in the right way and we’ve got to make sure we’re doing the right things by the players both old and new.
“We’ve got to pick and stick a little bit now and make sure we’ve got the right formula for different tournaments, different formats, and making sure we’re not just discarding players really quickly. So if we pick some young guys moving forward... we just have to stick with them a bit and ride the wave.
“That’s our job as coaches to really improve their skill level and how they learn about life.”
There appears to be little doubt that Smith will be the man to share the burden with Lehmann, though his appointment will have to be formally approved.