Yorkshire v Loughborough UCCE (University Match) : Day Two

Nick Thornicroft helped save his side from a caning against Loughborough University by claiming career-best figures of six for 60 at Headingley Carnegie yesterday.

But in a breathtaking finish it was Steve Patterson who brought Yorkshire a thrilling victory by one run by clean bowling the last two batsmen with the last two balls of the match.

After the first two days had been spoiled by bad weather, the game developed into an absorbing contest after some tinkering in the morning when Loughborough declared their first innings on 93 for three and Yorkshire forfeited, so setting their opponents a target of 291 in the final two sessions.

Loughborough were soon struggling as Thornicroft had Richard Malcolm lbw in his first over and in his second Ed Foster pulled him to David Wainwright at mid-wicket.

He bowled Will Gifford for 71 before having Arun Harinath caught at cover but Chris Murtagh completed a maiden first class century.

Ten were required off the final over from Patterson which began with Loughborough on 281 for eight and eight from the first four deliveries left Yorkshire staring defeat in the face with just two wanted and two balls remaining.

But Patterson kept his nerve by yorking both Steven Wheeler and last man Tom Parsons to preserve Yorkshire's unbeaten record in first class cricket this season - although this was their first team in name only.

* Yorkshire Phoenix will be looking to renew their challenge for a top two place in the North Conference of the Friends Provident Trophy when they take on Lancashire Lightning at Old Trafford tomorrow.

Yorkshire Phoenix from: White, Rudolph, McGrath, Younus Khan, Gale, Rashid, Pyrah, Bresnan, Guy, Gough, Gillespie, Kruis, Ajmal Shahzad.

SCORECARD

Yorkshire v Loughborough UCCE at Headingley Carnegie.

Overnight: Yorkshire 383-6 dec (R M Pyrah
106, A W Gale 68, C R Gilbert64).

Loughborough UCCE First Innings
R J Malcolm-Hansen c Thornicroft b Pyrah 30
M N Spriegel not out 24
E J Foster c Gilbert b Gale 2
C P Murtagh c Lawson b Lyth 3
W M Gifford not out 28
Extras (lb2 w2 nb2 pens 0) 6
Total 3 wkts dec (26 overs) 93
Fall: 1-48 2-55 3-58
Did Not Bat: A Harinath, R E King, J A Hughes,
J K H Naik, S J Wheeler, T W Parsons.
Bowling: Shahzad 7-0-16-0. Thornicroft 5-2-
12-0. Patterson 6-2-9-0. Lawson 2-0-4-0.
Wainwright 1-0-2-0. Pyrah 2-1-3-1. Gale 2-0-
33-1. Lyth 1-0-12-1.

Loughborough UCCE Second Innings
R J Malcolm-Hansen lbw b Thornicroft 5
M N Spriegel b Wainwright 28
E J Foster c Wainwright b Thornicroft 2
C P Murtagh c Gale b Wainwright 107
W M Gifford b Thornicroft 71
A Harinath c Gale b Thornicroft 2
R E King b Thornicroft 22
J A Hughes not out 24
J K Naik b Thornicroft 15
S J Wheeler b Patterson 6
T W Parsons b Patterson 0
Extras (b5 lb2 pens 0) 7
Total (73 overs)289
Fall: 1-5 2-7 3-72 4-208 5-212 6-232 7-252
8-280 9-289
Bowling: Shahzad 5-2-14-0. Thornicroft 16-2-
60-6. Patterson 7-0-30-2. Pyrah 10-1-38-0.
Lawson 13-1-53-0. Wainwright 18-1-72-2.
Wood 1-0-4-0. Gilbert 3-0-11-0.
Yorkshire beat Loughborough UCCE by 1 runs