County Championship: Yorkshire edge day two against Durham

Jonny Bairstow is keeping for Yorkshire at Chester-le-Street

Yorkshire edged their way into a controlling position in their County Championship match against Durham, leading the hosts by 118 heading into day three at Seat Unique Riverside.

George Hill claimed four wickets to put the hosts on the back foot after they resumed on 42-2. Hill was supported by Jordan Thompson and Matthew Fisher, reducing Durham to 173-9

However, a partnership of 54 between Ajaz Patel and Bas De Leede allowed Durham to close within 27 runs of the visitors to leave the contest in the balance.

Ben Raine, Matthew Potts and Brydon Carse took early wickets to rock the Yorkshire ranks, but Dawid Malan and Jonny Bairstow thwarted Durham's attempts to make further inroads with an unbeaten stand of 50 to put the visitors ahead in the game as they closed on 91-3.

Yorkshire capitalised on gloomy conditions on the morning of day two from the off to put the hosts under pressure. Thompson struck to remove nightwatchman Potts for seven.

Scott Borthwick nailed a drive down the ground against Fisher to produce one of the shots of the match to move to 35.

But, the England seamer had his revenge from the following delivery as he found his outside edge and Adam Lyth took a low catch at second slip.

Thompson's precise line and length earned him the reward of the prized wicket of David Bedingham on a marginal lbw call, reducing the home side to 71-5.

Ollie Robinson stemmed the tide with a vital knock for the hosts, piercing the field to find the fence with regularity.

He and Graham Clark put on 61 for the sixth wicket, but Robinson fell six short of a deserved half-century as he played a loose drive against Matthew Revis that Bairstow scooped up behind the stumps.

Hill probed away troubling both edges of the bat and would turn the screw for the visitors to open the Durham lower order. He eventually found Clark's outside edge to end his stoic knock of 33 before pinning Carse lbw.

Hill then notched his fourth wicket by skittling Raine to give Yorkshire a real chance of opening up a significant lead.

However, Patel and De Leede would defy Yorkshire with a stand of 54 for the final wicket that was only ended when Fisher bowled Patel for a useful 34.

Yorkshire held a lead of 27, but were immediately put on the back foot when Lyth bagged a pair, edging the first ball of the second innings from Raine to Lees, who fumbled the ball into the hands of Bedingham at second slip.

There was no one to spare Lees' blushes again when he put down concussion substitute Finlay Bean on three.

But Durham continued to make inroads into the Yorkshire line-up as Potts produced a peach to remove Shan Masood.

Bean could not cash in on his second chance, making 22 before Carse and Robinson combined to end his stay in relief of the ailing Saud Shakeel. Yorkshire required a touch of international class to halt Durham's progress into their order.

Malan and Bairstow blunted the home side's attempt to break back into the match and began to manufacture a game-winning platform, reaching their fifty stand in 109 balls before bad light brought a premature end to the day.

Report supplied by ECB Reporters' Network.