Northamptonshire 284 and 298 for 4 dec (Vasconcelos 100, Zain 55*) beat Lancashire 137 (Sanderson 4-39) and 129 (Walkden 22*) by 316 runs
Northamptonshire’s cricketers completed a quite outstanding all-round display 35 minutes after lunch when they defeated Lancashire by 316 runs in the Rothesay County Championship match at Emirates Old Trafford.
Luke Procter’s team are hoping to return to the First Division for the first time since they were relegated in 2023 and no one could doubt their credentials as they outclassed their opponents and completed a victory that leaves them four points behind second-placed Kent in a high-quality second tier.
Northamptonshire’s bowlers made their first breakthrough after 45 when Liam Guthrie inswinger snaked inside nightwatchman Tom Bailey’s loose drive. But Bailey’s departure for 19 was followed next over by that of Josh Bohannon for 10, when the stand-in skipper lost his off stump by a fine ball from Procter that left him off the pitch and knocked out the off stump.
Five overs later, Arav Shetty was leg-before to Sanderson for 11 to leave Lancashire languishing on 77 for five and became 77 for six in the following over when Rocky Flintoff hooked Procter straight to Saif Zaib at a precisely placed deep square leg.
Walkden avoided a king pair on his first-class debut and got off the mark to his ninth delivery when he pushed Yuzi Chahal towards mid-off for a single. Perhaps emboldened a little by this, Walkden reached double figures although he soon lost his eighth-wicket partner, George Balderson, who was caught at short-leg by George Bartlett off Calvin Harrison for six.
Lunch was delayed by 15 minutes to see if the game could be concluded but Walkden and Noman Ali held out until the interval. Ali was then caught at leg slip by Zaib off Guthrie for three and the match ended when Mitch Stanley was bowled by Harrison for ten.
Lancashire’s defeat is their second-heaviest in terms of runs to another county. It is only the fifth time they have lost to Northamptonshire at Old Trafford and their first loss to these opponents on this ground since 1999.
