Northampton

(day three of four)

Northamptonshire 168 and 161-2 (34 overs) N Boje 55 not out, DJG Sales 48 not out; Worcestershire 400-8dec

Lunch

Worcestershire stretched their lead to 151 but lost three wickets along the way during a balanced morning session. David Lucas claimed his fourth wicket of the innings when Ben Smith (19) edged to slip but any remote prospect of an all-ten for the left-arm seam bowler were ended when Johann Louw replaced him from the Pavilion End with immediate effect.

Moeen Ali (11) was unluckily caught down the leg side glancing but Stephen Davies (31) needed no second invitation to go after anything wide outside off stump. Although his strokeplay looked elegant when the ball fizzed through the covers, minimal footwork carried risk and Davies flashed once too often to become Louw’s second victim.

Tea

Northamptonshire needed 232 runs to make Worcestershire bat again after the visiting side declared as soon as they secured maximum batting points. None of the Worcester batsmen scored fifties today but with contributions all down the order they steadily built a formidable lead against an attack struggling for consistency on a slow pitch.

Nicky Boje held a sharp catch at slip when Gareth Batty had added only five to his unbeaten 32 at lunch but Kabir Ali (46), dropped at extra cover on 17, continued to strike the ball forcefully and effectively. He drove Monty Panesar for a sweet straight six before skewing an attempted pull against David Wigley to mid on.

Close

A re-jigged Northamptonshire batting order raced along undaunted by a 232-run deficit on first innings and finished only 71 adrift as Worcestershire suffered for setting attacking fields. Only in the closing overs did the scoring rate drop below five per over as Nicky Boje completed a half-century and David Sales struck ten fours from 60 balls.

Worcestershire secured their two wickets through sharp catching by Daryl Mitchell at second slip and an even better effort by Stephen Moore diving forward at deep midwicket when Stephen Peters gained a good connection pulling Gareth Andrew. Boje cut particularly well having promoted himself to No 3 and Sales, too, was alert to anything loose.