YORKSHIRE are slipping into a Specsavers County Championship relegation battle following an eight-wicket defeat against Essex inside two days at Scarborough.

With four matches to play, the county champions of 2014 and 2015 are being dragged into a fight at the wrong end of the table courtesy of a third defeat in their last four.

Leaders Essex, on the other hand, are rampaging towards a first title in 25 years having chased only 33 after tea.

Pakistan international seamer Mohammad Amir blew the White Rose away with a stunning display of swing and seam bowling in helpful conditions, claiming career best match figures of 10-72.

Bowled out for 113 in the first innings before conceding a lead of 118, Yorkshire slipped badly again from mid-morning to tea for 150 all out.

With other matches still to finish this week, it is impossible to say just yet exactly where Yorkshire stand in a tightly grouped table.

But they will certainly be looking down rather than up following a second successive defeat at Scarborough, which yielded only three points.

When defeat was confirmed, they were 39 points clear of second-bottom Somerset, who have two games in hand and six to play.

The Yorkshire faithful at North Marine Road may have been left shell shocked. But they cannot have failed to be impressed by Amir’s master-class.

The 25-year-old left-armer only returned to first-class cricket at the start of last year following a five-year ban for spot fixing, including a spell in jail.

After taking 5-18 in the first innings on Sunday, he quickly set about destroying Yorkshire’s hopes of a revival.

His day had started with bat in hand as he added 22 to Essex’s first-innings 231.

He suffered a neck injury in the first over of the day following a mid-pitch collision with bowler Ryan Sidebottom as he turned for a second run at the non-striker’s end.

But he got up after a near 10-minute delay to continue a 52-run stand for the ninth wicket with Ryan ten Doeschate’s 88 - the highest score of the match.

Amir and ten Doeschate both fell to Sidebottom and Tim Bresnan to wrap up the Essex innings.

Yorkshire then slipped to 14-3 inside eight overs of their second innings, losing openers Adam Lyth and Alex Lees for second-ball ducks inside two overs.

Lyth was trapped lbw offering no shot to Jamie Porter in the first over before Lees edged Amir behind in the second.

Amir went on to trap Tom Kohler-Cadmore lbw in the eighth over before getting Bresnan caught at second slip in the 20th and Adil Rashid caught behind in the 22nd as the score fell to 37-6.

Jack Leaning gave the 5,355 crowd something to cheer about with a defiant 70, including three sixes. He shared 30 for the eighth wicket with Jack Brooks and 45 for the ninth with Ben Coad, who made 28.

Coad was Amir’s fifth wicket when he edged to second slip, by which time Yorkshire had at least avoided an innings-defeat.

Varun Chopra and Nick Browne then fell in Essex’s chase.

Meanwhile, Gary Ballance is unlikely to be fit for Friday’s NatWest T20 Blast Roses clash with Lancashire at Headingley despite making progress from his fractured finger playing for England last month.

He netted at Scarborough during the lunch interval, but is still a major doubt.