The idea of blocking their way to a draw did not seem to occur to Northamptonshire yesterday. Perhaps refreshed by news that they have been given a game against the Australians next season, they hammered away at a 232-run deficit on first innings as though they intend to set Worcestershire a target this afternoon.

In reality, anything but a third successive defeat will go down as success given their parlous situation at the halfway point and the absence of Alex Wakely, their 19-year-old opening batsman, to a bruised hand. A reshuffled order led by Nicky Boje has done well so far, although Worcestershire, with attacking fields, offered too much to hit.

The pitch is slow and nothing like the turning tracks that Monty Panesar has grown to know and love at his home ground. All the England spin bowler could do was toil away either side of lunch as successive stands of 43, 48 and 52 frustrated his side after David Lucas and Johann Louw had struck in the first hour.

Steven Davies, Gareth Batty and Kabir Ali provided a buffer between the specialist batsmen and the tail and Ali was on course for a half-century only to mistime a pull to mid-on with Worcestershire five runs short of the 400 earmarked as the point at which to declare.

For all the perseverance of the energetic Louw and variety of Lucas, Northamptonshire made little headway with the second new ball, which may have warned Worcestershire of the difficulties that lay ahead. Ali and Steve Magoffin extracted a little more bounce but, with gaps in front of the wicket, runs were also there to be struck.

Ten came in the first over alone and the innings continued undaunted after a sharp, low catch at second slip by Daryl Mitchell undid Rob White. Boje, with a hundred to his credit already this season, thought nothing of moving up to number three and completed a 95-ball fifty in the final over with his eighth four.

Stephen Peters could hardly believe his ill luck when Stephen Moore at deep midwicket held a brilliant catch diving forward to hold a well-timed and meaty pull but David Sales maintained the overall run rate of almost five per over as he more than matched the strokeplay of his successor as captain.

Scoreboard

Northamptonshire: First Innings 168 (D J G Sales 50; S J Magoffin 4 for 49)

Second Innings
S D Peters c Moore b Andrew 33
R A White c Mitchell b Magoffin 9
*N Boje not out 55
D J G Sales not out 48
Extras (lb 5, nb 11) 16
Total (2 wkts, 35 overs) 161

Fall of wickets: 1-22, 2-69.
Bowling: Kabir Ali 4-0-24-0; Magoffin 11-2-34-1; Andrew 8-1-51-1; Whelan 4-0-29-0; Batty 8-3-18-0.

Worcestershire: First Innings (overnight 216-3)
B F Smith c Boje b Lucas19
M M Ali c Wessels b Louw 11
S M Davies c Wessels b Louw 31
G J Batty c Boje b Louw 37
Kabir Ali c Lucas b Wigley 46
G M Andrew not out 27
S J Magoffin not out 0
Extras (b 5, lb 11, w 2, nb 2) 20
Total (8 wkts dec, 116.1 overs) 400
C D Whelan did not bat.

Fall of wickets: 1-81, 2-211, 3-216, 4-235, 5-252, 6-295, 7-343, 8-395.
Bowling: Louw 28-7-77-3; Lucas 25-5-68-4; Wigley 14-0-71-1; Panesar 26-7-78-0; Klusener 13-3-53-0; Boje 10.1-1-37-0.

Umpires: R J Bailey and A A Jones.