THREE wickets from Steven Patterson helped put Yorkshire in a strong position against Worcestershire at Scarborough.

Seamer Patterson ended the day with figures of 3-34 as he helped reduce the Pears to 195-6 in their first innings – still 86 short of avoiding the follow-on after the Tykes made 430.

The 31-year-old is perhaps the least heralded of Yorkshire’s six-man attack but he showed good discipline at Scarborough to end the day the pick of the bowlers.

“I like bowling here,” he said. “There’s decent carry and it’s always a good pitch to bowl on. Hopefully I can get a few more and contribute to a positive performance.

“My role is a little bit different from some. I don’t always get the option of taking the new ball and I just do what I’m told really.

“If I can bowl consistently and pick up a few wickets in the meantime then I’m happy with what I’ve done.”

A fine Liam Plunkett catch saw Jack Brooks pick up the wicket of Richard Oliver (18) before Patterson trapped Daryl Mitchell (14) lbw with the first ball after a short rain break.

Tom Fell (30) was then caught by Jack Leaning off Plunkett before Patterson returned to remove Brett D’Oliveira (13) and Ross Whiteley (6).

Twenty overs were lost in the evening session due to rain and bad light, and the Yorkshire bowlers were further frustrated as Joe Clarke and Ben Cox added 56 for the sixth wicket before the latter fell to Brooks late in the day.

Joe Leach and Clarke did survive to the close, however, with the latter unbeaten on a career-best 76.

Yorkshire had earlier resumed the second day on 357-5 but found runs hard to come by as they looked to secure maximum batting points.

Charlie Morris took three wickets for just one run in the space of 13 deliveries as the Tykes struggled but skipper Andrew Gale and Ryan Sidebottom eventually saw them past 400.

The captain was the final man to fall for 164 as he picked out Mitchell trying to scoop Jack Shantry to third man as he produced his best innings since making 272 at North Marine Road in June 2013.