Yorkshire thrashed Lancashire by 175 runs to go level on points at the top of Division One of the Specsavers County Championship after the Red Rose were bowled out for 173 in their second innings.
Chasing an unlikely target of 349 to record their fourth win in six attempts this season, Lancashire suffered their second four-day defeat of the season, but will stay top of the division on 88 points, having won more games than two-time current county champions. It was Yorkshire's first home victory in a Roses match since 2001 and one that puts them in a good position to go in search of a third successive County Championship title.
Karl Brown (51) recorded his first Championship half-century of the season, sharing a 63-run stand with Liam Livingstone (24) either side of lunch, but early-morning wickets left Lancashire on the back foot at 98/5 and they were unable to recover, as Tim Bresnan (4-36) and Adil Rashid (4-17) did the bulk of the damage to help the White Rose record their second victory of the season.
Resuming on 44/1, Haseeb Hameed and Luke Procter showed early resilience, but both overnight batsmen were back in the pavilion in the space of four balls. Poor light suggested that the start of the final day could have been delayed, but Lancashire's uphill task was made that much harder by the decision to start on time in overcast conditions, with the floodlights in use throughout the day.
After navigating the Yorkshire seamers, both Hameed (20) and Procter fell to spin bowling, with the umpires deciding that only spinners could bowl due to the poor light for half an hour. It proved to be a profitable 30 minutes for the home side, as Rashid struck with his tenth ball of the day to remove Hameed in uncharacteristic fashion by the stoic opening batsman.
Hameed rocked onto the back-foot, attempting to scythe Rashid through the off-side, but all he could manage was a thin edge to Andrew Hodd. Procter followed in the next over, flashing hard and edging to Tim Bresnan at an acute first slip, as Adam Lyth (1-8) struck with his seventh ball to claim Yorkshire a second wicket in the space of four balls.
When the umpires deemed conditions suitable enough for pace to return, Bresnan made an immediate impact, forcing Steven Croft (5) to edge onto his own stumps, although the Lancashire skipper had attempted to leave the ball, as the visitors slumped to 71/4. Alviro Petersen aimed to play positive shots in an attempt to give the innings a second gear, but his efforts to play through the on-side saw the South-African trapped lbw by Bresnan for 24, walking across his stumps to hand Yorkshire their fourth wicket of the morning for 70 runs.
Brown and Livingstone partnered nicely to dig in under testing circumstances, seeing Lancashire to lunch on 121/5. Any chance of Lancashire saving the draw, or by some miracle going onto win the game, rested solely on those two each making a significant score and with the old ball still in use, Lancashire showed renewed optimism after the interval.
Livingstone backed up his eye-catching fifty in the first innings with a much more determined approach, while Brown looked to make good of his inclusion in the team, after missing out against Surrey last week.
The pair added fifty runs in 136 balls, soldiering through the swinging conditions and poor light, but Livingstone's departure at 161/6 saw the pendulum swing back in Yorkshire's favour. Livingstone (24) managed to pick out the only fielder in the leg-side, offering Liam Plunkett a simple catch on the boundary at deep mid-wicket, as Yorkshire made a big leap towards securing successive Roses victories.
Tom Bailey, who did not bowl in Yorkshire's second innings due to a side strain, was out in quick succession, top-edging Rashid to Hodd for two, as Lancashire fell to 169/7 in the afternoon session. Brown remained determined, reaching his first fifty of the season in 135 deliveries, but wickets continued to tumble around him, as Neil Wagner (2) was strangled down the leg-side by Bresnan, Yorkshire's third wicket in the space 29 balls.
Bresnan added his fourth and potentially most important scalp of the innings when Brown mistimed a drive to Gary Ballance at cover, ending Brown's 153-ball stay at the crease to leave Yorkshire one wicket short of a commanding victory. The task was completed five balls later when Kyle Jarvis was trapped lbw by Rashid, as Lancashire were bowled out for 173, losing their final five wickets for 12 runs in exactly ten overs.
The two sides will meet again on Friday night in the NatWest T20 Blast at Old Trafford, with Lancashire hoping to continue their hold over the Vikings in the shorter format, although Yorkshire will be boosted by the availability of England duo, Joe Root and Jonny Bairstow.
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