Yorkshire were delighted with the way they bounced back from their shock LV= County Championship defeat against Middlesex at Lord’s, despite having to settle for a draw against defending champions Durham.
The White Rose county’s overall performance in the north-east was positive, both with bat and ball on a pitch which was not the usual bowler’s paradise you find at Emirates Durham.
They made Durham follow-on 201 runs behind on first innings shortly after lunch on day four and gave the hosts a scare by reducing them to 42-4 second time around.
At that stage there was the best part of 42 overs left in the day. But opener Keaton Jennings and Paul Collingwood shared an unbroken fifth-wicket stand of 58 from 35 overs to finish on 100-4 and thwart Yorkshire.
Jennings reached 54 not out off 166 balls – and the left-hander even had to face an over of medium pace from Jonny Bairstow after tea, his first in professional cricket.
“It was bitterly disappointing to lose at Lord’s because we thought we’d got into a strong position,” said director of cricket Martyn Moxon, whose side were hurt by Middlesex’s pursuit of 472 last week.
“To lose that game could easily have knocked us coming here – it’s a tough game here at the best of times.
“With that looming over us, it would have been easy to put in a poor performance. But it showed the character of the team that we did bounce back.”
Yorkshire have now drawn two, won one and lost one of their first four Division One matches of the season, with their fifth against leaders Warwickshire at Headingley starting on Sunday.
Moxon is hopeful that Joe Root and Gary Ballance will be available for selection following one-day international duty with England in Aberdeen on Friday.
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