Nottinghamshire have work to do if they are to avoid defeat on the final day of their LV= County Championship match against Yorkshire at Trent Bridge.
They ended day three on 149-5, still 180 runs behind, after being made to follow on. Notts were bowled out for 203 in their first knock, with Chris Read making 81 but another poor start saw them facing a rearguard action when they batted again.
Yorkshire need only 5 more wickets to become the new County Champions and Read admitted they’ve had the better of this particular match.
“They’ve certainly been the stronger side throughout this game,” he said.
“Ultimately our downfall was last night, the last hour of the day, losing four wickets like we did put us on the back foot and it’s been an uphill struggle ever since.”
Resuming their first innings on 58 for four, still 325 away from saving the follow-on, Michael Lumb and Riki Wessels were only able to add a further 10 before they were parted during the morning session.
Jack Brooks and Ryan Sidebottom had each picked up two of the four wickets to fall on the previous evening and soon had tied up their individual tally again, at 3 apiece.
Brooks was given the verdict for an lbw appeal against Lumb (41), although the batsman may have been unlucky. Then Wessels (21) followed, guiding a Sidebottom delivery through into the gloves of Jonny Bairstow.
Chris Read had got his own innings under way with a crisp drive down the ground off Brooks and he repeated the dose off his former team-mate, Sidebottom.
With Luke Fletcher for company, the pair added 41 for the seventh wicket, although the introduction of spin had made life difficult for both batsmen.
Adil Rashid, with his leg spin, was gaining prodigious turn and bounce, and although both batsmen were able to get him away to the fence the tight net of close fielders were always lurking.
The pressure eventually told, with Rashid striking twice in his 12thover, the 42nd of the innings. Fletcher (23) was unable to resist a nicely-flighted delivery and he miscued high into the off side where Brooks turn a well-judged catch on the run.
Jake Ball (2) lasted for only 3 deliveries before he became the sixth player to be given out lbw in the match, all by umpire Saggers.
Gary Keedy, following scores of 0* and 15* on his county debut at Durham last week, arrived at the crease ahead of Harry Gurney and promptly stroked Steven Patterson away to the point boundary.
Resuming after lunch, on 139-8, Notts were soon in deeper strife, as Keedy (4) top-edged a sweep off Rashid and Bresnan hovered under a routine catch.
Gurney stubbornly blocked, defended, padded and kicked away everything for an hour in support of his captain. Read, for his part, had to contend with deep set fields as the visitors protected their boundaries and tried to ensure they could bowl at the last man for as often as they could.
In the 59th over Read managed to clip Steven Patterson away fine to bring up his 50 (128 balls 8x4) and repeated the dose from the next delivery.
With all the momentum with him, Read (81 not out) took Notts closer to a batting point, which was reached with three consecutive fours. The last wicket partnership had been extended to 63 when the stand was eventually broken by Brooks, getting Gurney out lbw for a season-high 15. This verdict was adjudged out by umpire Bailey.
Following-on, 329 behind, the second innings couldn’t have had a worse start. Steven Mullaney (0) was adjudged lbw (umpire Saggers again) to the innings’ first ball, from Sidebottom.
Lumb (9) went in the second over, caught behind after hitting Brooks for two fours.
Things could have been even more disastrous but Sidebottom was twice let down by his slip cordon. Alex Hales, on 4, nicked one through the fingers of Adam Lyth, at second, and then James Taylor, on 1, was put down by Gary Ballance at third.
Hales batted beautifully after tea but on 43 he drilled the ball straight back to be caught by the bowler, Brooks.
Samit Patel (25) arrived at the crease on the back of a poor run against Yorkshire. he collected a pair at Headingley earlier in the season and made a duck in the first innings.
He shrugged off those stats by hitting his first two deliveries to the boundary boards and helped Taylor put on 53 for the fourth wicket before being given out stumped by Jonny Bairstow, standing up to Steven Patterson.
The ball had been in the ‘keeper’s gloves for some considerable time before Bairstow lifted off the bails as the batsman lifted his back foot.
Wessels (10) was then dismissed for the second time in the day as a ball from Sidebottom demolished his off stump, leaving James Taylor and Gary Keedy, to stave off any further mishaps.
Taylor, who had reached his 50 from 94 balls (7x4), ended on 56 not out, with Keedy, in as nightwatchman, yet to score.