Rob Keogh made light work of Durham MCCU before Ben Curran finished off a day dominated by Northamptonshire.
After declaring overnight, Northamptonshire wasted no time in making inroads into the Durham MCCU innings. Under clear skies at The County Ground Nathan Buck claimed his first wicket in just the second over of the day as he trapped Dewes in front without a run on the board. He followed it up shortly after, sending off stump cartwheeling to leave the score at 13/2.
44 was added before Blessing Muzarabani claimed his first wicket for the club, finding the edge through to Rossington. Keogh then went to work, turning one sharply through the gate to peg back off stump. He had his second the following over, taking the top edge of an ambitious reverse sweep which fell gently into the hands of Levi at first slip. Durham MCCU went into lunch 72/5.
Ben Sanderson joined the wicket takers shortly after the break with a simple edge through to Rossington. The final 4 wickets fell inside just 10 overs, with a sharp diving effort from Cobb at gully handing Muzarabani his second. Keogh found off stump again, this time turning past outside edge for his third. Not to be outdone, Buck had the stumps cartwheeling for the second time in the day finishing with 3/28. Keogh closed out the innings with his fourth, going through the gate again to take middle stump out of the ground.
Keogh finished with 4 for 15 from his 9.2 overs, generating some sharp turn at times.
“It was nice to get out there, get a bit of sun on the back and have a bowl.” he said.
“Considering the game started in March there was a lot more turn than I was expecting. But it was nice to get 9 overs under my belt and get a few wickets.”
Northamptonshire made a bright start to the second innings after tea, with Vasconcelos and Curran adding 59 for the first wicket. Vasconcelos fell for 21 with Curran pushing on to reach 64 and take the team total to 100. Richard Levi (11*) and Luke Procter (3*) saw out the day after Adam Rossington chopped on for 1.
Play resumes for the final day tomorrow at 11am, entry is free.
Northamptonshire 481/7 dec & 108/3
Durham MCCU 136