Nottinghamshire picked up three wickets as Yorkshire fought back strongly on the second day of the LV= County Championship match at Trent Bridge.
The reigning Champions reached stumps on 226 for three, still 202 behind Notts, who were bowled out in their first innings on 428.
Alex Hales' marathon effort for the home side eventually ended on 236, when he was dismissed 38 minutes into the day’s play.
When Yorkshire batted, they had a centurion of their own in Alex Lees, who was dismissed for exactly 100, caught behind from the bowling of Will Gidman.
The catch was Chris Read’s 850th first class dismissal but he was more than happy to hand the limelight to the bowler.
“It’s always nice to reach a milestone but the wicket was the important thing and it showed that all the guys are ecstatic for Will.
“It’s not easy to come to a new club and settle in,” said the Notts captain. “Sometimes you need a little bit of time but it shows the popularity of the fella when you see how much it was enjoyed by all his teammates”
Read added that ideally his side might have scored a few more runs in the morning session and taken a few more wickets later in the day.
““This morning runs were hard to come by as Yorkshire bowled very well. Ideally we’d have liked 450 but we’ve still managed to put a good score on the board.
“We’ve put down a few chances, so we’ve not helped ourselves but the Yorkshire top order applied themselves very well.
“We’ve got to look at tomorrow morning now with that second new ball and see what we can do with it”
Yorkshire had the better of the morning session after quickly wrapping up the Nottinghamshire first innings before making a confident start to their reply.
Vernon Philander, playing at Trent Bridge for the first time in his career, got off the mark by nicking Patterson to the third man boundary but he’d only reached 7 when nicking Brooks to second slip.
The deserving Patterson then picked up the prize scalp of Hales, bowling him with a delivery that may just have nipped back through the gate, ending a marathon knock of 372 minutes.
Hales had faced 282 deliveries, hitting 38 fours and one six, before leaving the ground to a standing ovation.
Jake Ball made 14 and provided further evidence of his batting ability by heaving Tim Bresnan away for a huge maximum, before losing his leg stump to the next delivery.
Lees caressed Philander’s first delivery through the covers, heralding the start of a flurry of Yorkshire boundaries as the openers raced to 62 without loss by lunch.
The home side were able to put a brake on the scoring in the early part of the afternoon and the pressure brought about the initial breakthrough, as Will Rhodes edged Harry Gurney to Samit Patel at second slip.
Notts thought they had removed Cheteshwar Pujara, the Indian Test batsman, when he was on 15 but vociferous appeals for a caught behind off Ball went unrewarded.
Lees advanced to a half century from 109 balls, reaching the landmark with a cover drive off Steven Mullaney, which raced away for his ninth boundary.
Pujara survived an edged chance off Philander before reaching his own maiden 50 in county cricket but fell soon afterwards to a stunning catch.
Ben Kitt, an academy youngster on the field as a substitute, flung himself to his right at midwicket to cling on to a stunning catch to remove Pujara, for 59.
Lees advanced to his century, the seventh of his career, from 223 balls, having hit 11 fours, but he then fell to the next delivery he faced, giving Gidman that prized first wicket for the county.
Andrew Gale, on his return to the championship game, was very watchful in the final half hour of the day and reached stumps on 13 not out, with Jack Leaning also unbeaten, on 3.
Nottinghamshire took the second new ball for the final over of the evening and will be looking to make further inroads into the Yorkshire middle order on the third morning.
The excitement of the NatWest T20 Blast returns to Trent Bridge in May as Notts Outlaws hope to break the 10,000 barrier for the arrival of reigning champions Birmingham Bears on Friday 15 May.
Adult tickets are available at a special price of £10 and further discounts in place for under 16s (£5), under21s (£7) and senior citizens (£7) when buying in advance. Make Trent Bridge a firm fixture for your Friday nights and secure your seats now.