Teenager Haseeb Hameed achieved multiple personal accolades on the final day of the Roses match at Old Trafford, as Lancashire and Yorkshire played out a high-scoring draw.
Hameed (100*) became the youngest Lancashire player to score 1,000 runs in a season when he recorded centuries in both innings for the Red Rose county, becoming the first Lancashire player to do so in a Roses affair. At the age of just 19, Hameed has scored four centuries this summer, hitting five fifties in a row and he now has 1,030 runs at an average of 57.22 in what is proving to be a tremendous first full season for the young opening batsman.
As soon as Hameed reached three figures, Lancashire declared on 232/3, setting Yorkshire 367 to win from a minimum of 71 overs. Alex Lees (114*) and Adam Lyth (63*) took Yorkshire to 188 without loss when the players shook hands at 5pm, 179 runs short of their target after batting valiantly for over three hours to prevent Lancashire from claiming victory.
Lancashire took their overnight lead from 204 to 302 when Hameed and Tom Smith (87 off 103) recorded the highest opening partnership of the season worth 168 runs. Both batsmen played with positive intent in the hope of setting up a fourth-innings run chase for the visitors, with Hameed latterly supported by an unbroken partnership with Liam Livingstone, who hit a run-a-ball 31 not out to add 55 runs for the fourth wicket.
Smith capitalised on being dropped in the first over of the day by Jack Leaning at short leg by reaching fifty for the fourth time this season in red-ball cricket in 80 deliveries after scoring regular boundaries in the morning session. The Lancashire all-rounder welcomed Steven Patterson (0-22) into the attack with a huge six into the pavilion, bringing up the hundred-partnership with Hameed in 154 balls.
Hameed started a memorable day by recording his fifth consecutive half-century in 81 balls, as the Bolton batsman played with vigour and freedom in helping Lancashire to extend their already daunting lead with all ten wickets in hand. Yorkshire attempted to stem the flow of runs by posting eight men on the boundary, but that didn't stop Smith from hitting his second maximum of the morning, again launching Patterson into the stands to help Lancashire add 71 runs in the first nine overs of the day.
The injection of pace from Smith and Hameed saw them add the next fifty runs of their partnership in only 33 balls, with fast running between the wickets and strong shots through the leg-side a key feature of their morning-session assault on the Yorkshire bowlers. Smith threatened to record the fourth century of his first-class career when he hit Adil Rashid (1-68) for back-to-back boundaries, with Hameed reaching 1,000 runs for the season when he progressed to 73, becoming the youngest Lancashire player to do so.
Smith and Hameed's partnership came to a halt at 168/1 when the former advanced down the track to Tim Bresnan (2-60) and top-edged to Andrew Hodd for 87, his highest score of the season. This wicket sparked a mini collapse from Lancashire, who were still firmly in pursuit of setting up a run-chase for their Roses rivals. Lancashire lost three wickets in 12 balls when Alviro Petersen got a leading edge back to Rashid, as he was caught and bowled for two.
Bresnan then struck his second breakthrough in quick succession when he had Steven Croft (3) caught behind by Hodd attempting to fend the ball down to third man from a sharp bouncer, leaving Lancashire on 177/3 with Hameed approaching back-to-back hundreds in the match. Bresnan's confidence was thwarted by the emphatic temperament of Hameed, who hit two fours in quick succession to move to 93, again showing incredible confidence through the leg-side and more typically playing with pace on the ball through the covers.
Livingstone proved the perfect company to Hameed, offering a fearless approach to Lancashire's cause by hitting 31 runs from as many balls. The two ran brilliantly between the wickets, much like Hameed had previously done with Smith, allowing them to add a fifty-partnership in 45 balls. Hameed then put his name in the record books for a different reason, becoming the first Lancashire player to score centuries in both innings of a match against Yorkshire, reaching his fourth hundred of the summer in just 124 balls.
Hameed reaching three figures signalled Lancashire's declaration at 232/3 after he and Livingstone added an unbroken partnership worth 55 runs, setting Yorkshire 367 to win in the blazing sunshine. For the rest of the day, Yorkshire's opening batsmen Lees and Lyth took centre stage with a valiant partnership worth 188 runs, preventing Lancashire from recording their first Championship win since the end of May.
With all of the attention on Hameed's brilliance, Lees forced the limelight onto himself with a very competent 114 not out, ably supported by a former England opening batsman. The pair initially negated a six-over spell before lunch, with Lyth taking advantage of an early drop in the afternoon session by reaching fifty for the fifth time this summer. Petersen's drop at gully came on the second ball of the session and the seventh over of the innings, but it proved to be as close as Lancashire came to forcing a breakthrough against a stern Yorkshire resistance.
It was never totally clear as to whether or not Yorkshire fancied the sizeable target of 367, but a flurry of early boundaries for Lees off Nathan Buck (0-43) did set the visitors off to a good start. Lees hit four boundaries in a row, before swatting Buck for a six in his next over, racing to a 55-ball half-century to suggest that the Tykes were not going down without a fight.
However, even with positive start made by Lees, an already daunting task became that much harder when the Lancashire spinners applied a strangle to proceedings, sending the required run rate towards seven an over before Yorkshire had a chance to put their foot on the accelerator. The inevitability of the draw became apparent towards tea despite Lyth and Lees recording a hundred-partnership in 188 balls, as Lyth reached his fifty at a leisurely pace of 113 deliveries on the cusp of the interval.
The lack of aggression shown by either batsman signalled Yorkshire's desire to settle for the draw, but with a perfect platform set - and all ten wickets in hand - it begged the question as to why the White Rose didn't take a chance. Lees enjoyed a chanceless knock, hitting 15 fours on his way to his second century of the season after top-scoring with 85 in Yorkshire's first innings, with the visitors still needing 219 more runs to win heading into the final session of the match.
Lancashire moved up to fourth in the Division One table with an 11-point draw, as the players shook hands on a hard-fought draw to conclude a memorable Roses encounter and one that the Red Rose certainly enjoyed the better of across the four days.
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