Northants recover well with bat against Derbyshire

Rothesay County Championship Division Two, County Ground, Northampton (day two)

Derbyshire 377: Andersson 105; Chahal 6-118

Northants 265-5: Procter 71, Broad 64*, Bartlett 60*

Northants (4 pts) trail Derbyshire (4 pts) by 112 runs

Match scorecard

George Bartlett and Justin Broad shared an unbroken sixth-wicket partnership of 111 to lead the Northamptonshire recovery in response to Derbyshire's total of 377 at Wantage Road.

Bartlett equalled his season's best of 60 not out, made in the opening round of the County Championship, while Broad struck an unbeaten 64 as the pair batted through the evening session, having joined forces at 154-5.

Northamptonshire captain Luke Procter anchored his side's innings with a gritty 71 at the top of the order before becoming one of a trio of departures in quick succession prior to tea.

Earlier, Indian leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal picked up the final two Derbyshire wickets to register figures of 6-118, his best in the County Championship.

Derbyshire resumed on 348-8 and Ben Aitchison wasted no time in securing their third batting bonus point, clubbing Liam Guthrie's first delivery of the morning to the cover fence.

Aitchison looked on course to reach a first-class half-century for only the second time in his career, but he departed five short of that landmark, chopping Chahal back onto leg stump.

The spinner soon wrapped up Derbyshire's innings as Blair Tickner – having blazed a couple of boundaries off George Scrimshaw – took an ambitious swing and was caught at slip off a thick edge.

With ball in hand, Tickner then sent down a fiery opening spell, generating plenty of pace and bounce and earning his reward by removing Ricardo Vasconcelos with a delivery that swung in to hit the left-hander on the pads.

Procter and Lewis McManus – who was awarded his county cap prior to the start of play – saw their side through to lunch, not without the odd scare as debutant Joe Hawkins' first ball found the edge of the skipper's bat but fell just short of slip.

The visitors struck in the first over after the interval, when McManus misjudged the line from Zak Chappell and was caught behind, but James Sales started perkily as he dispatched Hawkins for two cover boundaries.

Meanwhile, Procter withstood a barrage of short-pitched bowling from Tickner, emerging unscathed after he ducked into a bouncer and continued to accumulate, guiding Aitchison to the rope at third man to bring up his half-century.

Northamptonshire's third-wicket partnership yielded 74 before Luis Reece achieved the breakthrough, tempting Sales to drive outside off stump and Harry Came clasped the catch at cover.

Reece prised out Procter, foxing the batter with a slower ball that trapped him in front and Derbyshire also removed the in-form Saif Zaib on the stroke of tea, caught behind to provide Hawkins with his first senior wicket.

Bartlett made a scratchy start but began to open up in the wake of Procter's exit, lifting Hawkins over the top for four and responding to another pounding by Tickner with a classy straight drive back over the bowler's head.

He was soon overtaken by Broad, whose tendency towards the pull shot almost proved his downfall when he miscued Tickner to leg slip, only for the ball to drop just in front of the stretching Caleb Jewell.

However, it was Bartlett who won the race to 50, pummelling Reece for six and four in quick succession and Broad soon followed suit, capitalising on the left-armer's full toss to find the boundary.

ECB Reporters' Network supported by Rothesay.

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