Goodness knows where Yorkshire would be in the County Championship table had it not been for Ajmal Shahzad.

The 24-year-old pace bowler is fast turning into a player who can be relied on when it really matters. And boy does their current match against Sussex really matter in the fight against relegation.

Shahzad yesterday confirmed a career best 88 off 187 balls, shelving his attacking instincts to play with impressive application in an eighth-wicket partnership of 157 in 43 overs with David Wainwright.

Wainwright is another who is good under pressure, and he delivered a punchy 85 not out off 146 balls to help record a workable first innings total of 403.

But the fact Shahzad is out of contract at Headingley – his situation shows no immediate signs of being resolved – makes him a bigger talking point.

A believed target for Warwickshire, Middlesex and Surrey, Shahzad then whipped out two important wickets in consecutive balls to reduce Sussex to 165-4 midway through the evening session.

He forced Mike Yardy (58) to chip a ball to Adam Lyth at mid-wicket before trapping Carl Hopkinson lbw.

“Early on I tried to go hard at them, but it didn’t come off,” said Shahzad. “I bowled good areas, but it came off the bat fast. When I bowled for a second time I thought I would try some variations, and it paid off.

“The wicket is very flat, but the people who have been most successful here are those who have tried things, like Rana and Yasir Arafat.”

Sussex, who had also been helped by 42 from Chris Nash and 46 from Joe Gatting, managed to close on 233-4 from 69 overs thanks to an unbroken fifth-wicket partnership of 68 between Murray Goodwin (44) and Rory Hamilton-Brown (32).

Yorkshire, again, were left bemoaning a couple of dropped catches, the mostly costly being when Joe Sayers spilled the dangerous Goodwin at cover off the bowling of Azeem Rafiq on eight.

Nash had earlier miscued the left-arm spin of Wainwright to Sayers at cover, while Gatting was trapped lbw by Matthew Hoggard just before tea.

Shahzad, who hit 78 in the win against Hampshire at Basingstoke, confirmed wickets 32 and 33 of his most productive summer. He went for 50 runs in 15 overs.

The contest is still intriguingly poised. A draw seems the most likely at the halfway stage, but either side could argue a case for being ahead on ‘points’.

The hosts are 170 behind, but Shahzad said: “Hopefully we can get some early wickets in the morning, drive through them, then see how it goes.”