Ealham makes Yorkshire toil

Graeme Swann launches the ball to the boundary in his 73-ball half-century

Mark Ealham took three wickets for no runs to keep Nottinghamshire on course to beat out-of-sorts Yorkshire at Trent Bridge.

Samit Patel and Graeme Swann took advantage of Yorkshire’s woes by bagging two more half-centuries in a second-innings 350 all out by tea on day three in this LV County Championship Division One match.

But it was Ealham’s late show which put the skids under an attempted fightback as the visitors closed on a vulnerable 107 for four, in pursuit of a distant 403.

Yorkshire had to get by without overseas pace bowler Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, off the field with a sore neck and shoulder while Patel (60) and Swann (57) added to Nottinghamshire’s gains.

Patel’s 114-ball fifty was by necessity a more studious innings, mostly made while runs on the board were still a requirement rather than luxury.

Swann had more freedom to batter Yorkshire morale, clubbing six fours and a six from only 73 balls, before a clatter of wickets gave the White Rose a glimmer of hope.

After just three balls this morning, Naved-ul-Hasan retreated with discomfort, which was of obvious concern to a cricketer who last year needed an operation on a dislocated shoulder.

Deon Kruis replaced him at the Radcliffe Road end and, in swing-friendly conditions under cloudy and humid skies, promptly added Mark Wagh’s name to this match’s epidemic of lbws.

Yorkshire’s stand-in captain Jacques Rudolph played a waiting game - until the second new ball was available - with Adil Rashid and part-time off-spinner Adam Lyth in damage limitation roles.

Fourth-wicket pair Patel and Adam Voges accepted the invitation to play themselves in - and were both within sight of a half-century by the time their stand was broken, on 78.

Samit Patel was given a chance to play himself in by Yorkshire © Getty Images

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Once the second new ball did arrive, it lasted only 10 deliveries before Yorkshire were questioning its shape - and after three overs it was replaced.

When a fresh ball was dropped by Lyth at third slip off Tim Bresnan, reprieving Voges on 24, it was clear nothing was going right for Yorkshire.

So it was until the penultimate over before lunch, when Bresnan finally got his man lbw.

Patel completed his fifty in early afternoon, before Bresnan found some lift to have him caught at slip.

That was the cue for Swann and captain Chris Read to up the ante.

They boosted the total effectively until the Nottinghamshire charge foundered against Rashid (4-96), as the last five wickets went down for only 45 runs.

Most notable was that of Swann, who had just swept his six off the young leg-spinner when he went up the wicket looking for another big hit and was stumped.

Notts’ profligacy appeared unlikely to be significant until, on a pitch which still favoured the batsmen as long as the ball was not swinging, Chris Taylor and Lyth shared a 73-run second-wicket stand to make up for the near immediate loss of Joe Sayers.

Charlie Shreck found the outside edge of a push away from the body, and wicketkeeper Read did the rest to complete a miserable match for Sayers - who had rushed south to replace the injured Anthony McGrath only to end up with 11 runs from two innings.

After yet another early ball change, Taylor responded with some increasingly authoritative strokeplay under ever sunnier skies.

But just as it seemed Yorkshire might make Notts sweat a little - and Taylor might muster a first half-century for his native county since 2002 - up popped Ealham (3-23) with the score on 75.

Taylor went to the match’s 10th lbw; Rudolph was expertly caught behind by Read standing up; Andrew Gale steered a catch into the slips - and in the space of 14 balls from Ealham, more than 400 to win had become a fantastical target.