County Championship Division Two round-up: Northamptonshire end 20-game winless run
Wednesday 29 April 2015 19:16, UK
Northamptonshire ended a run of 20 winless LV= County Championship matches by beating Leicestershire by 92 runs at Grace Road.
Resuming on Wednesday morning on 44-1 in pursuit of a 376 target, the hosts lost three wickets in the first hour of play and never genuinely threatened to reach their goal.
And they were bowled out for 123 runs by 4pm, with Rory Kleinveldt the pick of the Northamptonshire bowlers with 4-87.
Mohammad Azharullah was also a valuable presence, chipping with three wickets of his own and getting the first of the day by knocking out the off-stump of Angus Robson (32).
Captain Mark Cosgrove (2) and Neil Pinner (12) then followed, leaving Leicestershire 93-4 by midday, and Ned Eckersley and Niall O'Brien's 59-partnership for the fifth wicket was about all home side could muster.
Elsewhere, pace bowler Mark Footitt and opening batsman Billy Godleman guided Derbyshire to a seven-wicket win over Gloucestershire at Bristol.
Footitt took three of the last four Gloucestershire wickets to fall on the final day to finish with 6-94 and a match haul of 9-166.
Hamish Marshall (79) and James Fuller (51) put on 94 for the seventh Gloucestershire wicket, but both were dismissed by Footitt as the hosts were bowled out for 411 after resuming on 253-6.
Set 142 to win in a minimum of 53 overs, Godleman made 51 as Derbyshire secured their first four-day victory of the summer and handed Gloucestershire a second successive defeat.
At Old Trafford, Lancashire completed their second successive victory with a nine-wicket win over Kent on a tense final day.
After stubborn resistance, the home side finally dismissed the visitors for 295 after starting the day on 148-3, leaving Steven Croft's batsmen needing to score 104 in a minimum of 21 overs.
In the event they completed the task with 14 balls to spare for the loss of one wicket, Paul Horton being 67 not out off 62 balls and Alviro Petersen ending the innings unbeaten on 22.
Surrey’s match with Essex was drawn after rain forced the fourth day at the Kia Oval to be abandoned.
Prospects on the final day had been interesting, with Kevin Pietersen and Zafar Ansari chasing down Essex’s first innings reply of 610-8 declared, which had given them a 270-run lead.
