Yorkshire avoid over-rate penalty
England Lions opener Adam Lyth hit his third half-century of the season as Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire played out a draw on a rain-affected day at Trent Bridge
07-May-2011
Yorkshire 534 for 9 dec and 113 for 2 dec drew with Nottinghamshire 428 and 31 for 0
Scorecard
Scorecard
England Lions opener Adam Lyth hit his third half-century of the season as Nottinghamshire and Yorkshire played out a draw on a rain-affected day at Trent Bridge.
With Yorkshire 17 without loss in their second innings and 123 ahead at the start of the day, heavy showers wiped out the morning session and ended any hopes either side might be able to force victory.
Play began at 1.20pm and with little riding on the day's play, Lyth took the opportunity to hit 52 from 114 balls with six fours before pulling Steven Mullaney straight to the waiting Mark Wagh at deep square leg. Lyth's opening partner Joe Sayers had reached 45 when he was bowled by a spinning delivery from Samit Patel and in soporific batting conditions Yorkshire declared soon after tea on 113 for two, Joe Root unbeaten on nine and Andrew Gale six not out.
Nottinghamshire theoretically had 24 overs to chase a target of 220 but chose to take the 10 points for the draw. Yorkshire, facing a points deduction because of their slow over-rate, opened the bowling with the spin of Adil Rashid and Root to get their over rate back on par.
They managed to do this in the 13 overs that were bowled before stumps were drawn at 5pm, Mark Wagh finishing 25 not out and Neil Edwards undefeated on 6. The result leaves Nottinghamshire in second place in Division One on 73 points, one behind leaders Lancashire, while Yorkshire are sixth with 46 points.
Given the position of the match midway through Nottinghamshire's first innings and with many of their bowlers hit by injury, the hosts will be pleased to have avoided defeat.
They were dealt a further blow overnight by the news that talented batsman Alex Hales had suffered a broken jaw when he was hit by an Ajmal Shahzad bouncer, which will put the 22-year-old out until at least June. But they will head to Hove next week to take on Sussex boosted by the availability of England bowlers Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann.
