The only roses to bloom at Headingley yesterday were red ones until the last-wicket pair of Jason Gillespie and Deon Kruis gave Yorkshire an unexpected chance of avoiding the follow-on in their Championship tussle with Lancashire.

Yorkshire had slumped to a humiliating 189 for nine when Kruis joined Gillespie with a further 79 required to reach the safety line and they battled away for 20 overs until the close in an unbroken partnership of 63.

It left Yorkshire to start the final day on 252 for nine and if they can add 16 more runs together they should have done enough to ensure that the weather-hit game ends in a draw.

Gillespie, a double centurion for Australia in the second Test in Bangladesh a few weeks' ago, finished the day on 39 while his South African partner, who saved the Roses match at Headingley last year with a heroic last-wicket stand with Matthew Hoggard, stood on 21.

The pair also succeeded in earning Yorkshire a couple of batting bonus points which was something that looked highly unlikely when the batting started to crumble and five wickets clattered for only 33 runs.

Despite the brave last stand, Lancashire dominated the majority of the day's play, with 20-year-old Liverpool-born paceman Tom Smith returning career-best figures of four for 55 in only his fourth Championship match and Leeds-born left-arm spinner Gary Keedy grabbing three for 40, including the prize wickets of top-scorer, Anthony McGrath, and Darren Lehmann.

Keedy's successes were a particular embarrassment to Yorkshire, who had gone into the match without their main spinner Richard Dawson.

Matthew Wood and Joe Sayers began the day for Yorkshire with the highest opening stand of the season but it had still only reached 34 when Wood drove down the wrong line at the solidly-built Smith and was bowled.

Sayers was bowled by Kyle Hogg for 23 with one which kept low.

Michael Lumb went soon after lunch, nicking an intended pull at Smith, while Keedy accounted for key man Lehmann, who marched down the pitch to the spinner's third ball, failed to connect and was stumped by Luke Sutton for 33.

Craig White was lbw to Cork and Gerard Brophy was bowled sweeping Keedy but McGrath maintained the excellent form that has brought him at least a half century in each match from the start of the season until he, too, was lbw to Keedy for 64.

Smith accounted for Tim Bresnan and John Blain but Lancashire's plan to stick Yorkshire in again and snatch a few more wickets before the end of the day was nobly foiled by Gillespie and Kruis.