Everything now hinges on Yorkshire's final match of the season against Durham, starting at Headingley on Wednesday, after leg-spinners Mark Lawson and Adil Rashid bowled them to a famous 68-run win over Nottingham-shire with just 15 minutes and 4.2 overs remaining.

The 20 points Yorkshire took off the defending champions leaves them just half a point behind Durham, which means winner takes all in the forthcoming battle.

Whoever triumphs will preserve their Division One status next season but the losers are doomed for the drop after only one summer in the top flight.

So close together are the two sides that if the game ends in a draw, then the team which acquires most bonus points will be successful.

Yorkshire's nervous win over Notts gave them only their third Championship success of the season and their first at Headingley since early May last year.

Despite the magic of Lawson and Rashid, it was still a sparkling all-round display from which captain Craig White emerged with great credit, having scored 147 in the first innings and then made an astute declaration at 238 for five which left Notts chasing a target of 282 in what became a minimum of 71 overs.

Jason Gillespie got Yorkshire off on the right track by pinning Will Smith lbw with his second ball but David Alleyne and Steven Fleming added 52 before Lawson intervened by dismissing Fleming lbw with his first ball and taking a return catch to get rid of Samit Patel.

It was Lawson again on the stroke of tea who accounted for the dangerous Alleyne, the victim of a sharp piece of stumping by Simon Guy, who distinguished himself with easily Yorkshire's best wicketkeeping display of the season.

The game swung Notts' way for a while after the interval as David Hussey, a century-maker in the first innings, and Graeme Swann, dragged the target down to what became 115 from 23 overs with six wickets to fall.

But White shrewdly brought Deon Kruis back into the attack and the paceman responded by smashing down the stumps of Swann and Mark Ealham in the space of four balls.

Then it was back to an all-spin attack in fading light and this time it was 18-year-old Rashid who did the damage with three wickets for ten runs in 14 destructive deliveries that left Notts reeling on 196 for nine.

Last man Charlie Shreck was expertly shielded by Hussey and the pair survived for six overs before Guy stumped Shreck off Lawson.