YORKSHIRE captain Andrew Gale believes his side’s battling draw against Sussex in the LV=County Championship could be the result to turn the Tykes’ season around.

A mature innings of 73 notout from 21-year-old Gary Ballance helped the county avoid losing for a third straight game in the competition.

“I would like to think that we can look back at this performance to give us motivation for the rest of the season,”

said Gale, after seeing the county pick up five points from the fixture in a tense finish.

“We have got to build on this now. If we start doing that then we will be back were we belong, at the top of the table.”

Few can argue with his sentiments after his team put three days of toil on the south coast behind them to finally produce a performance they could be proud of.

They looked down and out ahead of the final day, on 29 for two in their second innings and still needing 275 runs to make Sussex bat again.

The more pressing matter was not to lose their eight remaining wickets though, and thanks to Ballance’s heroics they just survived.

He came to the crease with Yorkshire in trouble after the early loss of Anthony Mc- Grath for 44 and Gale for 26, staying in the middle for four hours to see his side home.

At first his partner was Jonny Bairstow, who again impressed to make a swashbuckling 76 from 93 balls, with Adil Rashid then providing the foil to put the Tykes into a safe position by tea.

They were 260 for five at this stage, but when Rashid fell with the first ball of the final session for 27, to give Monty Panesar the forth of his five wickets, suddenly the demons of past failings this season came to the fore.

Ajmal Shahzad scored only one and Ryan Sidebottom three to leave Yorkshire on 289 for eight, a lead of only 14 runs, until Steve Patterson arrived to spare the county any more misery.

He and Ballance batted diligently for a total 12.2 overs, with a four from the latter forcing the hosts’ captain, Michael Yardy, to concede the game was up with 21 balls left in the match.

“Gary played brilliantly,”

added Gale, who saw his side close on 314 for eight.

“He showed a lot of character, particularly with someone like Monty (Panesar) bowling into the rough for long periods.

“He is going to be a good player for Yorkshire over the next few years.”

SCORECARD

Sussex v Yorkshire
At Hove. Sussex drew with Yorkshire
Yorkshire Second Innings
J E Root lbw b Nash 20
J J Sayers c Joyce b Parnell 0
A McGrath lbw b Panesar 44
A W Gale b Panesar 26
J M Bairstow c Nash b Panesar 76
G S Ballance not out 73
A U Rashid c Joyce b Panesar 27
A Shahzad lbw b Khan 1
R J Sidebottom b Panesar 3
S A Patterson not out 2
Extras (b18 lb12 w5 nb7) 42
Total 8 wkts (106.3 overs) 314
Fall: 1-9 2-29 3-82 4-115 5-193 6-261
7-278 8-289
Did Not Bat: O J Hannon-Dalby.
Bonus Pts: Sussex 7 Yorkshire 2
Bowling: Parnell 16-3-60-1. Khan 19-6-43-
1. Anyon 20-2-58-0. Nash 12-3-19-1.
Panesar 36.3-11-89-5. Wells 3-0-15-0.