RYAN Sidebottom claimed a season's best four-wicket haul to keep Yorkshire firmly in the hunt for a third successive Specsavers County Championship title with a landslide win over Durham at Headingley.

The veteran seamer took three wickets in 18 balls before lunch on day four as the visitors forlornly chased a 421 target and lost by 228 runs midway through the afternoon.

Sidebottom's figures of 4-34 from 15 overs went a long way to ensuring the gap between them and leaders Middlesex, who won at Nottinghamshire, is just one point with two games to play – including the potential title decider at Lord's a week on Tuesday.

Captain Andrew Gale described this as Yorkshire's best performance of the season, with Somerset up next at Headingley on Monday.

After helping bowl Durham out for 192, 38-year-old Sidebottom said: "We're in a strong position.

"You talk about momentum quite a bit but we're in the ascendancy and are playing good cricket both with bat and ball.

"The pressure's on Middlesex. We have nothing to lose, having won two in a row, but it's going to be a very exciting finish.

"I suppose everybody in the league is looking at that last game of the season, so we need to play well against Somerset and see what happens from there.

"To take four-for, of course I'm happy, but it's more about the team. I'm too old to worry about facts and figures. It's about helping the team win.

"It was a great win and just what we needed to put the pressure back on Middlesex. We know how to win it and have been there but they've not won it for a long time.

"As much as you don't want to look at other results, they'll be looking at ours and we'll be looking at theirs. It's about who plays the best cricket. That's what it boils down to.

"I don't think the last two years we've played great cricket as a team. But individually when it's mattered, we've stood up and been counted.

"When we're under pressure, we seem to pull it out of the bag. That's the sign of a good team. Over the last two or three weeks, we've gained momentum and grown in confidence."

As Sidebottom says, Yorkshire are coming to the boil – and at just the right time after some shaky moments throughout the campaign.

They were dominant with bat and ball against Durham, with stand-out performances from Alex Lees, Adam Lyth, Jack Brooks and Sidebottom.

Day four started with Durham at 39-3 and they were soon 63-6 thanks to some expert swing bowling from Sidebottom, who has only played seven matches this year having fractured his fibula playing football.

He had nightwatchman Graham Onions caught by a diving Gary Ballance at cover and both Scott Borthwick and Paul Collingwood lbw, the latter offering no shot.

The former England man returned after lunch to get Michael Richardson caught at first slip playing loosely.

Brooks finished with three wickets and Tim Bresnan two as the champions claimed 23 points.

Yorkshire have Adil Rashid, David Willey and Liam Plunkett available to face Somerset after England limited-overs duty, although Rashid for Azeem Rafiq is expected to be the only change unless Steve Patterson's family situation dictates otherwise.

Patterson missed part of Thursday's third day with his father in intensive care.