Lancashire ended the third day hopeful of a Roses victory after fighting back against Yorkshire at Headingley.

The Tykes looked to have turned the game on its head when, from an overnight 33-3, they reduced their old rivals to 87-8 – a slender lead of 176.

But Saj Mahmood and Kyle Hogg hit half centuries to help Lancashire reach 194, with Tim Bresnan taking 4-50.

Yorkshire, set 284 to win, had slumped to 136-6 at the close, with Lancashire hoping to wrap up the tail this morning and keep alive their County Championship title hopes.

Yorkshire had the better of the morning session as five wickets fell for 63 runs.

But the momentum shifted again as Mahmood played some clean shots to reach fifty in 48 balls as he and Hogg’s stand for the ninth wicket went to 79.

Hogg went to his fifty with an edge to fine leg off 65 balls with eight fours and a six.

Yorkshire decided to play positively against the new ball as they chased 284 for victory.

But the Red Rose bowlers put the ball in the right place to consistently take wickets.

At 80-1, Yorkshire were making inroads, but lost two important wickets in four balls as Anthony McGrath was lbw to Hogg for 19 and Jacques Rudolph edged Glen Chapple to Paul Horton at second slip.

Jonny Bairstow was then bowled by Chapple for 16 and Gary Ballance fell at bat and pad off Gary Keedy for a duck to record a Roses pair.

Yorkshire were reeling in the evening as Bresnan joined his skipper, but after scoring 11 he edged Chapple to Tom Smith who took an excellent low catch at slip in the penultimate over.