Lyth and Rashid break records as Yorkshire take control

Lyth and Rashid made 296 runs for the sixth-wicket partnership.

Adam Lyth recorded a career-best score of 251 and shared a record-breaking partnership with Adil Rashid (159*) as Yorkshire ran Lancashire ragged to enter the final day with the greatest cause for victory.

The visitors posted a mammoth total of 610/6 declared after Lyth and Rashid amassed 296 runs for the sixth-wicket partnership, a new record against Lancashire.

With a lead of 332 runs, Yorkshire made further progress in the evening session, removing two of Lancashire’s second-innings wickets as the hosts reached a respectable score of 144/2 at close, leaving them with a minor chance for saving the draw.

Lyth’s 251 was the second highest score by any player in a Roses match, falling one run short of Darren Lehmann’s efforts in 2001, but the Yorkshire opener added to his cause for an England call-up with a batting masterclass.

He and Rashid batted for the entirety of the morning session as Lancashire were made to toil in the Manchester heat, with milestones and records aplenty. Yorkshire started the day well as Rashid hit the second ball of the day for four and this rather set the tone for what was to come for Lancashire.

Rashid then went onto make only his second half-century of the campaign in 94 deliveries, with Lyth fast approaching a significant milestone of his own. The pair soon brought up the 150-run partnership, scoring these runs with relative freedom and offering very little to the bowlers.

Having faced 347 balls, Lyth reached his second double-hundred of the season with 20 fours and a six, before he and Rashid completed to 200 partnership, abolishing any chance of a Lancashire revival in the process.

A century for Rashid in 169 balls compounded Lancashire’s abjection in the field as the Yorkshire all-rounder struck his fourteenth four to take the visitors score passed 500.

Lyth surpassed his previous highest score of the season before lunch as Yorkshire entered the break on 526/5 and matters continued to get worse for Lancashire as the sixth-wicket stand enter into record-breaking territory.

Lyth and Rashid collected the 250-run partnership after the interval and the former went on to reach a career-best score when he reached 249, moments before he became only the second Yorkshire player to score 250 in a Roses match.

Whether it was exhaustion or a minor lapse in concentration, Lyth was undone by the one Lancashire player who had managed to make regular breakthroughs when he found Simon Kerrigan at mid on to supply Stephen Parry (3-109) with a deserved wicket.

Lyth left the field proud, yet frustrated that he had failed to exceed all other records set before him, but a faultless display from the Yorkshire opener was to be the highest score by a Yorkshire player at Old Trafford and a timely reminder to the international selectors of his capabilities.

After he and Rashid had made 296 runs, Richard Pyrah walked out to an anti-climactic reception, but he added an unbeaten 21 as he assisted Rashid to his 150 in 228 balls.

Leading by 332 runs, Andrew Gale called time on Yorkshire’s innings, forcing Lancashire to bat for 46 overs. The hosts were now expected to respond well after their first innings score had been proven to be significantly below par, but the early loss of Luis Reece (4) to Ryan Sidebottom (1-19) raised the possibility of a three-day defeat.

Paul Horton and Usman Khawaja (69) had both fallen for no score within the first three balls of the game and with a great deal to prove, the pair verified their credentials at the top of the order with a sturdy partnership worth 81 runs.

Lancashire fans were left lamenting what could have been, as their batsmen responded from a first innings performance, one that has ultimately left them in the uncertain position they now face.

Horton fell one run shy of his half-century when he advanced down the wicket and supplied Rashid (1-44) with an easy return catch to add praise to his all-round contribution to the days play.

Yorkshire added insult to injury, finishing the day with Lyth and Rashid bowling in tandem, but Khawaja gave a good account of himself, reaching his first home four-day fifty for Lancashire in 63 balls, as Ashwell Prince (16*) passed 1,000 runs for the season.

A slender chance for salvaging the draw will depend heavily on how Lancashire’s overnight overseas batsman perform tomorrow and if they fail to bat for a long time, Yorkshire could go one step closer to the County Championship title.