Red ball cricket returns to Wantage Road this week as Northamptonshire host Derbyshire in the Rothesay County Championship.
Darren Lehmann’s side will be looking to bounce back quickly after their impressive four-day form was firmly interrupted by an innings defeat away at Middlesex last week. New Zealand’s Kane Williamson grabbed the headlines with a century on his red ball debut at Merchant Taylors’ School, with Saif Zaib’s 82 the only resistance as the visitors were made to follow on.
Zaib’s runs in the first innings propelled him to 1000 runs in the County Championship season, becoming the first Northamptonshire player to do so since Ben Duckett in 2016. However, his resistance alongside Rob Keogh, who showed admirable fight for 192 balls, scoring 62, was not enough to escape with a draw on Day 4 as their stubborn partnership was broken and they surrendered to defeat on Friday evening, an innings and 107 runs short.
Defeat saw Middlesex leapfrog Northamptonshire up to 5th, yet Division 2 remains tight and a positive result at Wantage Road keeps top two hopes alive. Northamptonshire sit on 110 points, with Tuesday’s visitors, Derbyshire in 3rd on 128.
Luke Procter is available after missing our fixture against Middlesex while Justin Broad returns to the squad having recovered from a wrist injury.
Before the game we caught up with Darren Lehmann to get his thoughts before the clash with Derbyshire.