County Championship: Kesh Maharaj spins Yorkshire to win over Nottinghamshire

South African Test spinner Kesh Maharaj is now just one short of 450 first-class wickets in his career

Yorkshire maintained their outside County Championship title hopes as they beat relegation-haunted Nottinghamshire by 143 runs at Scarborough.

After Notts resumed on 135-4, chasing an unlikely 386 to win, Kesh Maharaj took four of the wickets to fall to finish with 6-95 as the Tykes completed their fifth win of the season.

Ben Duckett (75) and Liam Patterson-White (58 not out) made half-centuries.

But Notts were bowled out for 243 early in the final afternoon session.

It always looked a tall order for a Notts side well adrift at the bottom of Division One, who have now gone 19 Championship matches - back to June 2018 - since their last win.

Kesh Maharaj has taken 28 wickets in four Championship matches - including this the second of two'five-fers'

Duckett added 28 more to his overnight score before being caught at point via a leading edge off Duanne Olivier.

Four overs later Tom Moores turned Maharaj's left-arm spin to short-leg, where Will Fraine claimed his second catch of the morning.

Tim Bresnan struck with his third ball of the day to have Paul Coughlin caught at second slip by Adam Lyth, shortly after he had been hit on the head by an Olivier bouncer.

Maharaj then picked up his fourth wicket of the innings by bowling Luke Wood with a sharp turner.

The South African Test spinner finished things off quickly after lunch as he removed Luke Fletcher and last man Jake Ball in successive deliveries.

What happens next?

Starting with a full programme of T20 fixtures on Friday, there is now another three-week break from Championship cricket before Yorkshire head to Taunton to face second-placed Somerset on 10 September, when Notts host Kent.

Notts, who will have India Test spinner Ravi Ashwin back for their final three games, could be relegated if they lose and seventh-placed Warwickshire beat Essex at Edgbaston.

The Tykes, 37 points behind leaders Essex with three games left, host Kent in their penultimate game before wrapping up against the Bears at Edgbaston.

Yorkshire coach Andrew Gale told BBC Radio Leeds:

"That's a good win. "Kent sort of messed it up against Essex. But all we can do is control what we're doing. We're playing some good cricket in this format.

"I had no problem with the way we batted in the first innings. Sometimes you have to just give the opposition credit. Luke Wood probably bowled one of the best spells he has done in his career.

"We gave them a couple of wickets out of the 10 that we lost, but the partnership between Tim Bresnan and Jonny Tattersall (121 for the sixth wicket) was the biggest difference in the game. They showed a lot of character and skill.

"From there, we drove the game. And Keshav Maharaj has been huge for us. Having a world-class spinner is massive."

Notts stand-in skipper Chris Nash told BBC Radio Nottingham:

"It's hard when you're in the position we are, at the bottom, having lost another game, to draw on any positives. But there were some.

"Ultimately, we had them 38-5 and let them get 60 or so more than we'd have liked. Then we're 180 odd all out from 90-2. That's the switch in the game and the 140 runs we're looking for.

"Liam Patterson-White has played three games and nearly taken 20 wickets. He also showed a lot with the bat there. He's played well on a couple of turning pitches before this.

"We haven't won a game all season and have lost a lot following some bad sessions. But you never know. We'll keep working hard and see where we get to."