Gritty Barlett keeps Northants in hunt against Lancs

Rothesay County Championship, Division Two, Emirates Old Trafford Cricket Ground, Manchester (day two)

Northamptonshire 284: Bartlett 92; Balderson 4-70, Walkden 3-33

Lancashire: 68-2

Lancashire 3 pts, Northants 1 pt

Match scorecard

George Bartlett made a fighting 92 to help Northamptonshire post a competitive 284 on the day two of their County Championship match against Lancashire at Emirates Old Trafford.

Bad light stopped play just after 7pm but not before the visitors made two late breakthroughs as the hosts finished on 68-2, boosting their hopes of a victory to aid their promotion push.

Lancashire supporters will have been encouraged by the bowling of George Balderson though after the all-rounder took 4-70 and by the resolution shown by the opening pair, Keaton Jennings and Marcus Harris in putting on 45 in difficult conditions.

In the morning session, Northamptonshire's overnight pair, Luke Procter and Nathan McSweeney, had added 26 runs in 50 untroubled minutes before the visitors lost three wickets in 27 balls.

Two of them were taken by Ben Walkden, who trapped McSweeney lbw for 20, and four overs later, bowled Saif Zaib for three with a good ball that evaded a loose drive.

Sandwiched between those breakthroughs, Procter departed for 39 when his cover-drive off Tom Bailey skewed to Arav Shetty at point. But James Sales and Bartlett staunched the flow of wickets and took their side safely to 134 for five at lunch.

Lancashire broke the sixth-wicket partnership with the eighth ball after lunch when Sales felt for a ball outside the off stump and edged to Joe Moores on 19.

That success, though, was the prelude to an enterprising 91-run stand between Bartlett and Lewis McManus which hoisted Northamptonshire's total to 225 before McManus was caught at slip by Harris, thus giving the slow left-armer his first wicket for Lancashire.

By then, though, Bartlett had reached his fourth fifty of the season and Northamptonshire reached tea usefully placed on 248 for seven.

Liam Guthrie and Ben Sanderson fell to Balderson and Bailey in successive overs shortly after the resumption but Bartlett hit both bowlers during a last-wicket stand of 27 with Yuzi Chahal before falling to Balderson eight runs short of a deserved century.

Balderson was the pick of the Lancashire attack but Walkden also impressed on debut and finished with 3-33 from 13 overs.

In Lancashire's reply, Harris was dropped on eight by Bartlett at third slip off Guthrie in the sixth over and had put on 45 with Jennings before he was caught behind off Procter for 25.

Josh Bohannon was then lbw to Ben Sanderson for four but Jennings and Shetty took them to 68-2 by the time bad light ended play seven overs early.

Report by ECB Reporters' Network supported by Rothesay