County Championship: Yorkshire set Hampshire challenging chase

Adam Lyth was the beneficiary of two dropped Hampshire catches

County Championship Division One title hopefuls Hampshire face a challenging final-day chase of 214 to beat Yorkshire at Scarborough.

With Yorkshire bowled out for 272 in their second innings, and Hampshire closing on 9-0, this fixture is fascinatingly poised on a tricky pitch.

Hampshire are bidding to maintain pressure on Division One leaders Surrey with an eighth win in 11 games, while mid-table Yorkshire are aiming for only a second win in 10.

Wicketkeeper Jonny Tattersall top-scored with 63, opener Adam Lyth made 59 and Matthew Waite contributed an important 47.

All were handed lives as Hampshire dropped six catches, including three by Joe Weatherley, during a sunny East Coast day. But the fabulous Kyle Abbott added 4-77 from 27 overs to finish with 10-113 in the match.

Yorkshire enjoyed an encouraging morning, advancing from 23-1 to 98-3, a lead of 39.

Despite losing Tom Kohler-Cadmore and Will Fraine, they wiped off their first-innings deficit of 59 and ensured a relative calm that had not been seen during the first two mornings.

Kohler-Cadmore was first to go when he was caught behind off South African Abbott, via a combination of inside-edge and pad, for 19 before Fraine was bowled by Ian Holland, leaving the score at 66-3 in the 32nd.

Lyth picked up a good percentage of his runs on the drive, though some were edged.

Kyle Abbott's 10-113 at Scarborough was the sixth 10-wicket match haul of his career

So often this season, Yorkshire have been hurt by less than proficient catching. On this occasion, however, they were the beneficiaries of Hampshire errors which could end up costing them the fixture.

Their half a dozen drops included Lyth twice in the slips off Abbott on 14 and 56 - Weatherley and James Vince were the culprits either side of lunch.

During an afternoon which saw only Lyth fall - caught behind down leg off James Fuller - wicketkeeper Ben Brown dropped Tattersall on 26 and Waite on 11 off Fuller. Both were diving away to his right.

Lyth's dismissal to Fuller, which left Yorkshire at 119-4 in the 58th over of the innings, ended a 53-run stand with Tattersall either side of lunch.

Tattersall went on to share 78 through into the evening with Waite, taking Yorkshire's lead beyond 100.

But Mohammad Abbas struck twice with the new ball shortly after tea, bowling Waite and getting Tattersall caught low down at a wide third slip by Holland.

If wickets did not come as frequently as Hampshire had hoped earlier in the day, they did late on as Abbott struck three times in 13 balls - 242-9 in the 107th, a 183 lead.

Dom Bess was trapped lbw before Jordan Thompson and Matthew Revis, for an important 24, were caught behind in the same over.

Steve Patterson and Ben Coad then added what could be a crucial 30 runs for the last wicket to push the lead beyond 200.

Fuller had Patterson caught in the gully, ironically by Weatherley, to leave Hampshire openers Holland and Felix Organ to get through three overs before the close.

Report supplied by the ECB Reporters' Network.

Yorkshire's Jonny Tattersall:

"I'm fairly happy with my performance, but we'd have liked a few more runs on the board. Overall, we've done well. We battled hard and have given ourselves a chance. It was a good last-wicket partnership between Patto and Coady to get us up to 200 on the board.

"New ball in the morning. Hopefully we can make some early inroads. If we can apply a bit of pressure, you never know what can happen.

"It was tough going out there with the bat. It was doing a bit all day. Even when Abbas was bowling with the older ball, he was still getting it to seam around."

Hampshire's Kyle Abbott:

"We didn't get much cricket on days one and two, so it's looking like a day three pitch, which is normally around the best time to bat.

"It was great to get the job done for the guys. It was a hard slog this afternoon. I've definitely found a bit of rhythm in the last few weeks.

"It's the old thing, the more you bowl the more rhythm you get. I haven't done anything in practice for the last three-and-a-half weeks. It's just been match bowling."