YORKSHIRE captain Andrew Gale hailed a “fairytale year” as he surpassed 1,000 Championship runs for the season and led the Tykes into a commanding position against Sussex.

The left-hander made 67 while Tim Bresnan also hit a half-century as the county champions ended the penultimate day of their campaign with a lead of 301 on 298-9.

Sussex need to avoid defeat to be sure of their Division One status with relegation rivals Hampshire on course to beat Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge, leaving Gale a tough decision as to whether to declare overnight.

But for now the 31-year-old was happy enough to herald in his personal achievements in 2015.

“It’s only the second time I’ve done it, and I knew I needed a big game to get over the line, but it’s something I’m very proud of,” he said.

“I knew I needed 61 and I thought if I could get to 30 then it would be on, but I was mainly just thinking about the team situation and needing 300 plus to put us in a commanding position, so that probably helped me focus.

“It’s been nice. I’ve felt like I’ve been hitting the ball well and made some good contributions. To get 1000 runs and win the Championship is a bit of a fairytale year really.

“I’ll have to think if we’ll declare overnight or bat on a bit. Sussex are under the pump as it looks like Hampshire are going to win. They’re under pressure and I think we can take advantage of that.”

Resuming on 55-1, Yorkshire lost Gary Ballance (45) in the fifth over of the day as he played on off the bowling of Steve Magoffin, but Adam Lyth and Gale batted patiently in a stand of 58 for the third wicket.

Lyth, having been dropped by England for their upcoming Test series against Pakistan, showed admirable concentration, and had to wait until his 103rd delivery to register his first boundary.

But having battled through the majority of the morning session, he chopped on off the bowling of Lewis Hatchett to fall for 39 shortly before rain brought a premature end to the morning session.

Despite an early lunch being called, further heavy showers saw 19 overs lost from the day before Jonny Bairstow and Gale put on 67 for the fourth wicket.

Bairstow was the main aggressor, hitting four boundaries on his way to 36 before being trapped by a vicious in-swinger from Chris Jordan as he ended the season with 1108 Championship runs at an average of 92.33.

Jack Leaning (9) followed shortly before tea as he was well caught by Jordan at first slip off Chris Liddle before Gale perished shortly after the interval to the same combination, this time with the catch taken at leg-gully.

Yorkshire then lost Adil Rashid (21) and Liam Plunkett (4) to the new ball, but Bresnan and Jack Brooks (14) batted sensibly to add 43 in the closing hour.

Brooks, however, was unable to see out the day as he was caught behind off Hatchett from the final ball of the day, leaving Bresnan unbeaten on 50.