Northants beat Pears to stay in promotion hunt

Rothesay County Championship, Division Two, New Road, Worcester (day three)

Worcestershire 200 & 182: D'Oliveira 64; Chahal 4-46,Conway 3-33

Northamptonshire 289 & 96-4: Zaib 24; Usama 3-34

Northamptonshire (20 pts) beat Worcestershire (3pts) by six wickets.

Match scorecard

Northamptonshire boosted their promotion hopes by romping to a convincing six-wicket win over Worcestershire at New Road, wrapping up a comprehensive victory inside three days.

Leg-spinner Yuzvrenda Chahal returned the standout figures of 4-46 as the visitors ran through the Pears for just 182, whose only defence came through captain Brett D'Oliveira's valiant 64.

Chasing a mere 94 to win, Northants eased to their target with six wickets in hand, despite three consolation wickets from Pears leggie Usama Mir.

The win keeps Northants well in the hunt for promotion back to Division One, edging in front of nearest rivals Kent with two rounds of action remaining.

D'Oliveira and Adam Hose made a defiant start in the sunshine at New Road, taking the hosts within one run of parity in a cagey opening hour, but their resolve was undone by Luke Procter who found the outside edge of Hose's bat for 18 with Ricardo Vasconcelos taking the catch at first slip.

That wicket was the catalyst for the visitors, who took charge of the remainder of the morning session with two wickets in quick succession keeping the promotion-chasers on top.

The evergreen Ben Sanderson celebrated a 50th Division Two wicket of the summer when the 37-year-old seamer benefitted from a loose Henry Cullen drive, with a thick edge racing to Calvin Harrison at slip, before Chahal trapped Mathew Waite (5) lbw as the Pears wobbled.

Worcestershire captain D'Oliveira rallied and made a second half-century in as many matches from 130 balls with the hosts reaching lunch 136-6, ahead by just 47 runs.

In match dominated by seamers, it was Northants' overseas spinner Chahal who made the telling breakthrough an hour into the afternoon session, ending D'Oliveira's riposte at 64, courtesy of a smart catch by substitute keeper Stuart van der Merwe.

Procter (2-32) claimed his seventh wicket of the match when he accounted for Ben Allison cheaply, before Chahal re-entered to dismiss Usama as Worcestershire crumbled.

The Indian completed a clinical display with the ball by pinning Adam Finch lbw as Chahal finished with 4-46 and to dismiss the hosts for 182.

Northants lost both openers in quick succession after the tea interval, as Procter (21) and Vasconcelos (22) fell to Usama and Finch respectively.

Usama (3-34) then snared Saif Zaib and Calvin Harrison, but George Bartlett's unbeaten 19 eased the visitors home.

ECB Reporters' Network supported by Rothesay.