Yorkshire paid a heavy price for getting on the wrong side of Stuart Law as Lancashire set new records on the second day of the Roses match at Headingley Carnegie yesterday.
Aussie-born Law gave a classic display of batting, hitting a double century which guided Lancashire to a formidable score of 517 and gave them a first innings lead of 373.
Yorkshire then had to bat out 13 overs to the close and they finished on 44 for one, still 329 in arrears and needing to produce something quite extraordinary if they are to save the match.
Law's 206 off 250 balls with 27 fours and two sixes was Lancashire's highest individual score in Championship Roses cricket, beating Reg Spooner's 200 at Old Trafford 97 years' ago.
But Law was not the only thorn in Yorkshire's flesh because opener, Paul Horton, was also in excellent form, hitting a career-best 149 from 319 deliveries with 19 boundaries.
Together, Horton and Law amassed 258 in 61 overs for the third wicket on a perfect batting pitch. And Lancashire's 517 was their highest score in Yorkshire, beating 484 at Headingley in 1998.
Darren Gough openly acknowledged that Yorkshire had few excuses for plunging to 25 for five on the previous day purely and simply through bad batting and he knew quick breakthroughs were required when Lancashire resumed on 146 for two but it was not to be.
Horton and Law both settled in with a minimum of fuss before Horton got stuck on 99 for 17 minutes - a single off Jason Gillespie took him to three figures off 186 balls with 13 fours.
Having reached his half-century, Law began to reel off top quality shots with a minimum of fuss and the second of three consecutive fours brought him his century from 139 balls.
His 150 came with a legside six off Tim Bresnan and it was 3.15 on a warm afternoon before Yorkshire claimed their first success of the day as Horton slashed hard at Bresnan and was caught at slip by Younus Khan.
Andrew Flintoff, coming in at 383 for three, looked in great nick as he cracked Bresnan for a cover four, but after moving smartly to 24 he was lbw to Younus.
Law completed his double century and the only way Yorkshire seemed like dismissing him was to run him out - which they did. Anthony McGrath's throw from short third man beating him.
The best moment of the day for Yorkshire's long suffering fans came when Gough knocked out Steven Croft's off-stump to earn a second bowling bonus point and Adil Rashid ran through the tail to give him final figures of three for 109.
The amount of turn Rashid was starting to get must have lit up Mutiah Muralitharan's eyes but it was Flintoff who came on to break the opening stand by bowling Craig White off an inside edge for 16 with the score on 33, nightwatchman Gillespie seeing out the remainder of the day's play with Joe Sayers.
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