County Championship: Rhodes and Hain earn Warwickshire draw with Yorkshire

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Will RhodesImage source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Will Rhodes was dismissed for 99 in Warwickshire's previous game against Northamptonshire

LV= County Championship Division One, Clean Slate Headingley (day four)

Warwickshire 244 & 252-3: Rhodes 111*, Hain 109*; Thompson 3-54

Yorkshire 449: Lyth 145, Brook 82, Revis 53*; McAndrew 4-111

Yorkshire (14 pts) drew with Warwickshire (11pts)

Will Rhodes and Sam Hain made excellent rearguard centuries as they batted through the entire final day against Yorkshire to earn Warwickshire a County Championship draw at Headingley.

Champions Warwickshire started day four on 57-3 in their second innings, a deficit of 148, and when the players shook hands at 4.50pm they were 252-3 with a lead of 47.

Hain and his captain Rhodes, a Championship winner with both of these counties, shared a stand of 227 in 104 overs and finished unbeaten on 109 and 111 respectively.

This was a game in which unbeaten Yorkshire held the upper hand, but they had to settle for a fifth draw in six Division One matches this season, taking 14 points to Warwickshire's 11.

In four of their five draws, Yorkshire have had final-day victory chances, only to be thwarted by a mixture of determined batting in benign conditions and a lack of bowling firepower.

That was exactly the case here as Warwickshire, facing an attack missing Matthew Fisher, Ben Coad and Haris Rauf through injury or illness, added their fourth draw to a win and a defeat.

Heading into the break for the start of the Vitality Blast, Yorkshire have gone third in the table, 15 points behind leaders Surrey, while Warwickshire remain sixth.

Image source, BBC Sport

Hain and Rhodes batted through a quiet morning session with only a couple of obvious alarms and brought up their centuries off successive balls shortly after tea.

They batted with more purpose than they had done late on day three, having come together at 25-3 following Jordan Thompson's trio of new-ball breakthroughs.

A Rhodes edge off Dom Bess flashed through Harry Brook at second slip before he had chance to react and Hain edged the same bowler in between his off stump and wicketkeeper Harry Duke to reach his fifty off 188 balls.

Seventy one runs came in the morning as the score advanced to 128-3 at lunch, with a minimum of 64 overs remaining.

Yorkshire's best hope was a new ball due seven overs into the afternoon, and the took it with 57 overs remaining when Warwickshire were 146-3 and still 59 behind.

The pitch had shown signs of offering turn and had been a bit two-paced during day three, but there was none of that 24 hours later.

Hain was particularly punishing on the cut shot, which brought him a solitary six off Matthew Revis, while Rhodes was stronger to leg, both working through mid-wicket and pulling with authority.

During the afternoon, Rhodes edged Steve Patterson short of Root at slip, and the the former England captain left the field, only to return in the same position with his right thumb strapped.

When Warwickshire reached tea at 222-3, they led by 17 with a minimum of 34 overs remaining, with Rhodes on 98 and Hain unbeaten on 92.

Rhodes and Hain reached their centuries in the early stages of the evening, by which stage they had just recorded a double century partnership.

Hain's second hundred of the season came off 308 balls and a first of 2022 for Rhodes came off 268.

Report supplied by the ECB Reporters' Network.

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