A fascinating last two sessions were in prospect on the final day at the County Ground after Essex set Yorkshire an attacking declaration target at Chelmsford.
Resuming on 229-3, the hosts batted on for 46 minutes during the morning session, for the loss of three wickets, before captain James Foster set the Tykes 369 to win from 83 overs.
By lunch that had been reduced to 287 with nine wickets in hand thanks to some fine batting by Adam Lyth and Jacques Rudolph.
Together they put on 79 for the first wicket before Lyth was stumped by Foster off Tim Phillips in the penultimate over of the session for 42.
Rudolph was still there on 35 though, with Bradford-born Anthony McGrath unbeaten on two.
It meant Yorkshire had a minimum of 66 overs left to reach their target at a rate of 4.3 runs an over.
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