TRENT BRIDGE

(day two of four: Nottinghamshire won toss)

Nottinghamshire 213 (68 overs, MJ Wood 58, R Naved-ul-Hasan 3-63) and 72-1 (29 overs, BM Shafayat 27 not out, MA Wagh 31 not out); Yorkshire 161 (59.2 overs, CE Shreck 5-58, MA Ealham 3-17)

Lunch

If England could play a series against South Africa purely at Trent Bridge, where it swings like Benny Goodman, and the Oval, where it turns, they might just win.

As in the Nottingham Test against New Zealand this June, and in four championship matches here hitherto, the match continued to be a benefit for swing bowlers until a selectively lusty tenth-wicket stand intelligently reduced Yorkshire's defecit.

After Andre Adams produced the outswing to have Matthew Hoggard, the nightwatchman, caught at third slip, Charlie Shreck, calculatedly bowling within himself, stepped up to complete an 11-over spell of three for 33. Devastating, full inswing removed Adil Rashid and Gerry Brophy leg-before and ripped out Rana Naved-ul-Hasan's leg stump.

Having declined from 72 for five, overnight, to 115 for nine in 17 overs, however, Yorkshire were once again revived by Tim Bresnan who, supported by Deon Kruis, first saw out Shreck's spell and then counter-attacked against Paul Franks and Mark Ealham.

By lunch, with the pair's unbroken alliance worth 46 critical runs, Yorkshire were 52 behind.

Tea

Yorkshire's final wicket fell to the second ball after lunch without addition to the total when Mark Ealham, who had bowled only three overs in the morning, immediately found the swing to dislodge Bresnan for 32.

Although Matthew Hoggard, following Nottinghamshire's lead, made it seven leg-before dismissals out of 21 wickets then taken, bringing a full ball back to remove Matthew Wood for 14, this was Yorkshire's only success in the 29 overs to tea. As in the first innings, none of the bowlers found either consistent lines or consistent movement in a disappointing display.

If Shreck, cutting back his pace and hitting a perfect line, had offered a swing masterclass in the morning, Bilal Shafayat and Mark Wagh, negotiating 18 overs together in adding 50 unbeaten runs, offered an object lesson in self-denying application. By the interval, Nottinghamshire led by 132 with nine wickets still standing.

Close

With the admirable second-wicket stand realising 103 from 40 overs, Nottinghamshire moved closer to their fourth win of the championship campaign. Only Shafayat fell in the final session when a ferocious straight drive was deflected by Hoggard, the bowler, in his attempt to take the catch and Naved-ul-Hasan raced across from mid-on, dived and just held the ricochet.

Shafayat's 62 came from 147 balls but Wagh moved on to his eighth fifty of a dedicated season and Nottinghamshire, with eight wickets standing, were 198 runs ahead by the close.