Lancashire and Yorkshire edge towards thrilling finale at Headingley

Lancashire are four wickets away from completing a rare Roses double that would remove many of the doubts over their unexpected challenge for a first outright Championship title since 1934, after another absorbing day of twists and turns. Yorkshire, having fought back so stirringly from 45 for eight in their first innings, were edging towards the box seat when they reduced Lancashire to 87 for eight in their second. But this time it was Lancashire who counterpunched, first in a ninth-wicket stand of 80 between Sajid Mahmood and Kyle Hogg, and then with a disciplined bowling performance led by their captain Glen Chapple. They already held a slight advantage when bad light and rain forced a stoppage at 5.20pm, shortly after Sajid had claimed the key wicket of Jacques Rudolph. But the balance of power shifted further in their direction when play resumed 40 minutes later, as Chapple bowled Jonny Bairstow with a scuttler, then had Tim Bresnan athletically caught by Tom Smith at second slip. The introduction of Gary Keedy's left-arm spin had also paid immediate dividends with the wicket of Gary Ballance for a second duck of the match. Yorkshire should not be completely written off yet, with their captain Andrew Gale in determined mood, and Adil Rashid, Ajmal Shahzad and Richard Pyrah still to come – Pyrah facing the possible indignity of being demoted to No11 despite his brilliant first-innings century as a result of Bresnan's late arrival from Lord's and the promotion of Ryan Sidebottom as a nightwatchman. But the occasional variable bounce that has helped to make this such a compelling match must leave Lancashire as the strong favourites to complete their seventh victory out of 11. For almost half the day they seemed to be sliding towards a defeat that would have represented a major blow both to their chances and their morale. Lancashire's approach to building on their 89-run first innings advantage when they resumed on 33 for three was attritional rather than following the cavalier example set by Pyrah the previous day, but that played into Yorkshire's hands as only 63 runs were eked out in the morning session, for the loss of five wickets. Bresnan, having taken two cheap wickets on Thursday evening, was a handful again, and Pyrah and Sidebottom chipped in. But Sajid, whose batting has improved considerably over the past two seasons, was never going to scratch around, and after being dropped by Bresnan on 23 he really took the fight to Yorkshire, plundering four consecutive boundaries off the increasingly exasperated Sidebottom. Hogg also underlined his all-round ability with a well-timed first 50 of the season, and although he could not repeat his devastating five-wicket first-innings burst, he claimed the key wicket of Anthony McGrath before Sajid fired out Rudolph – yet another potentially pivotal moment in a truly compelling match.