08-09-2022, 18:51
Lancashire and Yorkshire battled to a hard-fought draw in the 277th Roses Match at Emirates Old Trafford.
Lancashire scored quick runs at the start of the day adding 77 runs in 10 overs to set Yorkshire a target of 302 runs and give themselves 84 overs to get the ten wickets needed for victory.
The visitors never attempted to chase down the runs and produced a determined rear-guard effort with the bat to claim the draw and thwart Lancashire’s ambitions, finishing on 102-3 before rain ended the day early with 20 overs and four balls remaining.
The result leaves Lancashire in third place with 188 points in the LV= County Championship table, 29 points behind leaders Hampshire and 21 points behind Surrey who have a game in hand.
Resuming on 203-3 and leading by 224 runs, Dane Vilas and Steven Croft signalled immediate intent by taking 19 runs off the first two overs of the day from Dom Bess and Ben Coad.
The pair added 57 for the fourth wicket before Vilas was bowled for 28 off 20 balls attempting a cut off Bess.
George Lavelle was caught for 1 hitting out and Croft had plundered 45 off 34 balls before Vilas called a halt at 280-5.
And Lancashire nearly made a sensational start when Adam Lyth clipped Tom Bailey’s first ball into the body of Josh Bohannon at short leg with the fielder unable to gather the ball.
But Lyth soon departed for five, edging a drive behind to Lavelle off Will Williams.
When George Hill was smartly caught by Vilas at second slip off Tom Hartley for six, Red Rose ambitions soared with 68 overs still left to be bowled.
A 41-run partnership that occupied 18 of those overs between Fin Bean and Tom Kohler-Cadmore gave the visitors some much needed respite until Hartley had Bean caught by Lavelle after the opener had made a determined 25 off 82 balls.
Kohler-Cadmore and Will Fraine dropped anchor, scoring 17 runs in 19 overs up to tea to steer Yorkshire to 84-3 with 31 overs left and they gave Lancashire few chances after the break, reaching 102-3 before rain ended proceedings at 4.10pm with Kohler-Cadmore unbeaten on 34 from 159 balls and Fraine 18 not out having faced 83 balls.
“I think we played pretty good cricket for the majority of the game,” said Lancashire Head Coach Glen Chapple.
“Maybe we’d like to get more runs after the partnership we had in the first innings.
“We were 180 for none and in an ideal world we would have made more runs. Then the weather came in a little bit and it started to do a bit and they bowled quite well for a period.”
Chapple felt the declaration set today was a fair one.
“We made 280 in 43 overs and set them 302 in 84 overs which for me is 50-50 game,” he explained.
“I don’t know what more you can do.
“It was a flat enough to block if you want to. But that was a fair target.
“We’d have got 300 on that no problem,” he added. “But we can’t judge how positive (other) teams are going to be.
“I suppose we are at the stage of the season where a win is not that important, but to set any less would have been giving the game away.”
Chapple was full of praise for the effort put in by his players to try and go for the win.
“On a pitch like that you might need a bit more pace in the attack,” he said.
“We’ve got our best bowlers out there and I thought everyone bowled well. You just need a breakthrough when you can.
“If a few decisions had gone our way in the first innings the game might have speeded up.”
And Chapple described Luke Wells’ second innings performance yesterday as “amazing.”
“That just shows the pitch is good,” he said. “You’ve got to play out of your skin to do that and take chances. But his shot execution and power was unbelievable.
“And that showed what can be done on that surface. We scored at seven runs per over comfortably.
“It was a brilliant innings and it put us in with a shout and given two teams with an appetite for a win it would have been a great game.”
Chapple is determined to finish the season on a high.
“We’ve got to keep playing good cricket and finish as high as we can and see what happens,” he said.
“We’ve worked too hard to let our standards slip. We’ll come out in our last two games to try and win those and see where that takes us.”
Lancashire scored quick runs at the start of the day adding 77 runs in 10 overs to set Yorkshire a target of 302 runs and give themselves 84 overs to get the ten wickets needed for victory.
The visitors never attempted to chase down the runs and produced a determined rear-guard effort with the bat to claim the draw and thwart Lancashire’s ambitions, finishing on 102-3 before rain ended the day early with 20 overs and four balls remaining.
The result leaves Lancashire in third place with 188 points in the LV= County Championship table, 29 points behind leaders Hampshire and 21 points behind Surrey who have a game in hand.
Resuming on 203-3 and leading by 224 runs, Dane Vilas and Steven Croft signalled immediate intent by taking 19 runs off the first two overs of the day from Dom Bess and Ben Coad.
The pair added 57 for the fourth wicket before Vilas was bowled for 28 off 20 balls attempting a cut off Bess.
George Lavelle was caught for 1 hitting out and Croft had plundered 45 off 34 balls before Vilas called a halt at 280-5.
And Lancashire nearly made a sensational start when Adam Lyth clipped Tom Bailey’s first ball into the body of Josh Bohannon at short leg with the fielder unable to gather the ball.
But Lyth soon departed for five, edging a drive behind to Lavelle off Will Williams.
When George Hill was smartly caught by Vilas at second slip off Tom Hartley for six, Red Rose ambitions soared with 68 overs still left to be bowled.
A 41-run partnership that occupied 18 of those overs between Fin Bean and Tom Kohler-Cadmore gave the visitors some much needed respite until Hartley had Bean caught by Lavelle after the opener had made a determined 25 off 82 balls.
Kohler-Cadmore and Will Fraine dropped anchor, scoring 17 runs in 19 overs up to tea to steer Yorkshire to 84-3 with 31 overs left and they gave Lancashire few chances after the break, reaching 102-3 before rain ended proceedings at 4.10pm with Kohler-Cadmore unbeaten on 34 from 159 balls and Fraine 18 not out having faced 83 balls.
“I think we played pretty good cricket for the majority of the game,” said Lancashire Head Coach Glen Chapple.
“Maybe we’d like to get more runs after the partnership we had in the first innings.
“We were 180 for none and in an ideal world we would have made more runs. Then the weather came in a little bit and it started to do a bit and they bowled quite well for a period.”
Chapple felt the declaration set today was a fair one.
“We made 280 in 43 overs and set them 302 in 84 overs which for me is 50-50 game,” he explained.
“I don’t know what more you can do.
“It was a flat enough to block if you want to. But that was a fair target.
“We’d have got 300 on that no problem,” he added. “But we can’t judge how positive (other) teams are going to be.
“I suppose we are at the stage of the season where a win is not that important, but to set any less would have been giving the game away.”
Chapple was full of praise for the effort put in by his players to try and go for the win.
“On a pitch like that you might need a bit more pace in the attack,” he said.
“We’ve got our best bowlers out there and I thought everyone bowled well. You just need a breakthrough when you can.
“If a few decisions had gone our way in the first innings the game might have speeded up.”
And Chapple described Luke Wells’ second innings performance yesterday as “amazing.”
“That just shows the pitch is good,” he said. “You’ve got to play out of your skin to do that and take chances. But his shot execution and power was unbelievable.
“And that showed what can be done on that surface. We scored at seven runs per over comfortably.
“It was a brilliant innings and it put us in with a shout and given two teams with an appetite for a win it would have been a great game.”
Chapple is determined to finish the season on a high.
“We’ve got to keep playing good cricket and finish as high as we can and see what happens,” he said.
“We’ve worked too hard to let our standards slip. We’ll come out in our last two games to try and win those and see where that takes us.”
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